CN117544690A

CN117544690A - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN117544690A
Application number: CN202111045946.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郭宇宸; 黄国刚; 李云波; 淦明
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-09-07
Filing date: 2021-09-07
Publication date: 2024-02-09
Also published as: TW202312723A; WO2023036081A1

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which enable the indication of the address information of a sender to be more flexible by setting a first field used for indicating whether a multilink element comprises the MAC address information of a first STA in a first wireless frame, so that the communication device can adapt to various communication scenes. In the method, a first STA generates a first radio frame including a multilink element including a first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA; the first STA transmits the first radio frame. The present application is applicable to wireless local area network systems supporting the IEEE 802.11ax next generation WiFi protocols, such as 802.11be, or EHT, etc., 802.11 series protocols.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless local area networks (wireless local arer networks, WLAN) and, more particularly, to a communication method and a communication device.

Background

With the development of wireless technology, more and more wireless devices support multi-link communication, for example, communication is performed on 2.4 gigahertz (GHz), 5GHz and 6GHz frequency bands simultaneously, or communication is performed on different channels in the same frequency band simultaneously, so as to improve the communication rate between the devices. Such devices are commonly referred to as multi-link devices (MLDs).

Currently, in WLAN communication, taking a sender of a radio frame as an example of a certain station in a multi-link station device, a receiver of the radio frame may be another multi-link device or a single-link device.

In some scenarios, a medium access control Header (medium access control Header, MAC Header) field included in a radio frame received by a receiver of the radio frame may include address information of a sender of the radio frame to indicate to the receiver of the radio frame that the radio frame is from the sender.

In other scenarios, a radio frame sent by a sender of the radio frame may need to be forwarded by a forwarding device before it can be received by a receiver of the radio frame. The MAC Header field included in the radio frame received by the receiver of the radio frame may include address information of the forwarding device, so as to indicate to the receiver of the radio frame that the radio frame is from the forwarding device.

However, for the above-mentioned various scenarios, whether to acquire the address information of the sender and how to acquire the address information of the sender are technical issues to be solved for the receiver of the radio frame.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which enable the indication of the address information of a sender to be more flexible by setting a first field used for indicating whether a multilink element comprises the MAC address information of a first STA in a first wireless frame, so that the communication device can adapt to various communication scenes. Accordingly, the receiver of the first wireless frame flexibly selects whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element based on the first field in the first wireless frame, and can accurately learn the MAC address information of the first STA when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA.

A first aspect of the present application provides a radio frame transmission method applied to WLAN communications, where the method is performed by a first STA or by a part of a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the first STA, and in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method is described as being performed by the first STA as an example. In the method, a first STA generates a first radio frame including a multilink element including a first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA; the first STA transmits the first radio frame.

In one design, the MAC address information may be a MAC address, an index (index) of the MAC address, an identifier of the MAC address, or the like, or other implementations, which are not specifically limited herein.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, a first radio frame sent by a sender (for example, a first STA) of the first radio frame carries a multi-link element for indicating site information of an MLD where the first STA is located, where the multi-link element includes a first field for indicating whether the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) may determine, based on the first field, that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the multi-link element. Accordingly, by setting the first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA in the first radio frame, the indication of the address information of the sender is more flexible, so that it is possible to adapt to various communication scenarios. Accordingly, the receiver of the first wireless frame flexibly selects whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element based on the first field in the first wireless frame, and can accurately learn the MAC address information of the first STA when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA.

A second aspect of the present application provides a radio frame receiving method applied to WLAN communications, where the method is performed by a second STA or by a part of a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a system-on-chip) in the second STA, and in the second aspect and its possible implementation, the method is described as being performed by the second STA as an example. In the method, a second STA receives a first radio frame from a first STA, the first radio frame including a multilink element including a first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA; the second STA determines whether to receive MAC address information of the first STA in a multi-link element based on the first field.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame received by the second STA carries a multi-link element for indicating the site information of the MLD where the first STA is located, where the multi-link element includes a first field for indicating whether the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) may determine, based on the first field, that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the multi-link element. Accordingly, by setting the first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA in the first radio frame, the indication of the address information of the sender is more flexible, so that it is possible to adapt to various communication scenarios. Accordingly, the receiver of the first wireless frame flexibly selects whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element based on the first field in the first wireless frame, and can accurately learn the MAC address information of the first STA when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA.

A third aspect of the present application provides a radio frame transmitting apparatus, applied to WLAN communication, where the apparatus is a first STA, or the apparatus is a part of a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first STA. A processing unit in the apparatus is configured to generate a first radio frame, the first radio frame including a multilink element, the multilink element including a first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA; the transceiver unit in the apparatus is configured to transmit the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame sent by the sending unit carries a multi-link element for indicating the site information of the MLD where the first STA is located, where the multi-link element includes a first field for indicating whether the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) may determine, based on the first field, that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the multi-link element. Accordingly, by setting the first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA in the first radio frame, the indication of the address information of the sender is more flexible, so that it is possible to adapt to various communication scenarios. Accordingly, the receiver of the first wireless frame flexibly selects whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element based on the first field in the first wireless frame, and can accurately learn the MAC address information of the first STA when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA.

A fourth aspect of the present application provides a radio frame receiving apparatus, for use in WLAN communications, where the apparatus is a first STA, or where the apparatus is part of a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-chip, etc.) in the first STA. A transceiver unit in the apparatus is configured to receive a first radio frame from a first STA, the first radio frame including a multilink element, the multilink element including a first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA; a processing unit in the apparatus is configured to determine whether to receive MAC address information of the first STA in a multilink element based on the first field.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame received by the receiving unit carries a multi-link element for indicating the site information of the MLD where the first STA is located, where the multi-link element includes a first field for indicating whether the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) may determine, based on the first field, that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the multi-link element. Accordingly, by setting the first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA in the first radio frame, the indication of the address information of the sender is more flexible, so that it is possible to adapt to various communication scenarios. Accordingly, the receiver of the first wireless frame flexibly selects whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element based on the first field in the first wireless frame, and can accurately learn the MAC address information of the first STA when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA.

In the first to fourth aspects, as the sender of the first radio frame, the "first STA" may be a "STA" indicated by a Profile (Per-STA Profile) of each station in the multi-link element, where the first radio frame carrying the multi-link element is sent by the MLD. When the MLD is an AP MLD, the Per-STA Profile indicates Profile information of a certain AP in the AP MLD (in other words, "first STA" is AP); when the MLD is a non-AP MLD, the Per-STA Profile indicates Profile information of a certain STA in the non-AP MLD (in other words, "first STA" is STA).

In addition, in the first to fourth aspects, as the receiving side of the first radio frame, the "second STA" that receives the first radio frame carrying the multilink element may be a single link device or may be one "STA" in the MLD. When the second STA is a certain STA in the AP MLD, the second STA is an AP; when the second STA is a certain "STA" in the non-AP MLD, the second STA is an STA.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, the first field is located in a Presence Bitmap (Presence Bitmap) field in the multilink element.

Based on the above technical solution, the first field is located in an appearance bitmap field of a multilink element included in the first radio frame, so that a receiver of the first radio frame can determine the first field based on the appearance bitmap field.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, when the value of the first field is a first value, the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA, and the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA.

Optionally, when the value of the first field is the second value, the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element does not include the MAC address information of the first STA.

Optionally, the first value is different from the second value.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first to fourth aspects, when the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the multilink element includes a Common information (Common Info) field in which the MAC address information of the first STA is located.

Based on the above technical solution, the MAC address information of the first STA is located in a common information field of the multilink element included in the first wireless frame, so that the receiver of the first wireless frame may determine the MAC address information of the first STA based on the common information field.

Optionally, when the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the first radio frame includes any one of the following:

a tunnel direct link setup (tunneled direct link setup, TDLS) discovery request frame, a TDLS discovery response frame, a TDLS setup request frame, a TDLS setup response frame, a TDLS setup acknowledgment frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup acknowledgment frame, a TDLS data frame, a response frame of a TDLS data frame.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, when the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element does not include MAC address information of the first STA, the MAC address information of the first STA is located in a location of the first radio frame other than the multilink element.

Optionally, the first radio frame further includes a target field, where the target field includes MAC address information of the first STA; wherein the target field is different from the multilink element.

Alternatively, the target field may be a medium access control Header (medium access control Header, MAC Header) field.

Optionally, when the first field is used to indicate that the multi-link element does not include MAC address information of the first STA, the first radio frame includes any one of the following:

An association request frame, a reassociation request frame, an association response frame, a reassociation response frame, or a probe response frame.

A fifth aspect of the present application provides a communication method applied to WLAN communication, where the method is performed by a first STA or by a part of a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the first STA, and in the fifth aspect and its possible implementation, the method is described as being performed by the first STA as an example. In the method, a first STA sends a first wireless frame, wherein the first wireless frame comprises a first multi-link element corresponding to a first multi-link device (MLD) where the first STA is located, and the first multi-link element comprises MAC address information of the first STA; the first STA receives a second radio frame, which is a response frame of the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, a first radio frame sent by a first STA carries a multi-link element for indicating station information of a first MLD where the first STA is located, where the first multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein the receiving side (e.g., the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the multilink element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the multilink element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

In addition, in some implementations, after the receiver of the first wireless frame learns the MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the subsequent first wireless frame may further communicate with the first STA based on the TDLS based on the MAC address information of the first STA, so as to improve communication efficiency.

A sixth aspect of the present application provides a communication method applied to WLAN communication, where the method is performed by a second STA or by a part of a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the second STA, and in the sixth aspect and possible implementation manner, the method is described as being performed by the second STA as an example. In the method, a second STA receives a first wireless frame, wherein the first wireless frame comprises a first multi-link element corresponding to a first multi-link device (MLD) where the first STA is located, and the first multi-link element comprises MAC address information of the first STA; the second STA transmits a second radio frame, which is a response frame to the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame received by the second STA carries a multi-link element for indicating the station information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, where the first multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein the receiving side (e.g., the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the multilink element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the multilink element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

A seventh aspect of the present application provides a communication apparatus for use in WLAN communication, where the apparatus is a first STA, or where the apparatus is part of a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-chip, etc.) in the first STA. The sending unit in the device is used for sending a first wireless frame, wherein the first wireless frame comprises a first multi-link element corresponding to a first multi-link device (MLD) where the first STA is located, and the first multi-link element comprises MAC address information of the first STA; the receiving unit in the device is configured to receive a second radio frame, where the second radio frame is a response frame of the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame sent by the sending unit carries a multi-link element for indicating the station information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, where the first multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein the receiving side (e.g., the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the multilink element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the multilink element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

An eighth aspect of the present application provides a communication apparatus for use in WLAN communication, where the apparatus is a first STA, or where the apparatus is part of a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-chip, etc.) in the first STA. The receiving unit in the device is configured to receive a first radio frame, where the first radio frame includes a first multilink element corresponding to a first multilink device MLD where a first STA is located, where the first multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA; the transmitting unit in the device is configured to transmit a second radio frame, where the second radio frame is a response frame of the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame received by the receiving unit carries a multi-link element for indicating the station information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, where the first multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein the receiving side (e.g., the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the multilink element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the multilink element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

In a possible implementation manner of any of the fifth to eighth aspects, the first multilink element includes a common information field in which the MAC address information of the first STA is located.

Based on the above technical solution, the MAC address information of the first STA is located in a common information field of the first multilink element included in the first wireless frame, so that the receiver of the first wireless frame may determine the MAC address information of the first STA based on the common information field.

In a possible implementation manner of any of the fifth to eighth aspects, the first multilink element includes a first field, where the first field is used to indicate whether the first multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA.

Optionally, when the value of the first field is a first value, the first field is used to indicate that the first multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA.

Optionally, when the value of the first field is the second value, the first field is used to indicate that the first multilink element does not include the MAC address information of the first STA.

Optionally, the first value is different from the second value.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the fifth to eighth aspects, the first field is located in an occurrence bitmap field in the first multilink element.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect, the first radio frame further includes a first information element, where the first information element includes address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, and the address information of the initiator is a MAC address of a first MLD where the first STA is located.

Optionally, the first information element is a link identification information element (Link Identifier element).

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the first radio frame sent by the first STA may further include a first information element, where the first information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the initiator is the MAC address of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and is used to indicate that the TDLS initiator is the first MLD where the first STA is located.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect, in the first radio frame, the address information of the responder is MAC address information of a second STA or MAC address information of a second MLD where the second STA is located.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission process, and when the TDLS responder is a multi-link device, the address information of the responder in the first information element may be the MAC address information of the second MLD where the second STA is located; when the TDLS responder is a single link device, the address information of the responder in the first information element may be MAC address information of the second STA. So that the scheme can be applied to a variety of different scenarios.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect, the second radio frame includes a second multilink element corresponding to a second MLD where the second STA is located, where the second multilink element includes a MAC address of the second STA.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission process, where when the receiving side of the first radio frame is a multi-link device, the second radio frame is used as a response frame of the first radio frame, and the second radio frame may also include a second multi-link element corresponding to a second MLD where the second STA is located, where the second multi-link element includes a MAC address of the second STA. Such that a receiver of the second radio frame (e.g., the first STA) may determine MAC address information of the second STA based on the second multilink element, the receiver of a subsequent second radio frame communicating with the second STA based on the MAC address information of the second STA.

In a possible implementation manner of any of the fifth to eighth aspects, the second multilink element includes a common information field in which the MAC address information of the second STA is located.

Based on the above technical solution, the MAC address information of the second STA is located in a common information field of a second multilink element included in the second radio frame, so that a receiver of the second radio frame may determine the MAC address information of the second STA based on the common information field.

In a possible implementation manner of any of the fifth to eighth aspects, the second multilink element includes a second field, where the second field is used to indicate whether the second multilink element includes MAC address information of the second STA.

Optionally, when the value of the second field is the first value, the second field is used to indicate that the second multilink element includes MAC address information of the second STA.

Optionally, when the value of the second field is a second value, the second field is used to indicate that the second multilink element does not include MAC address information of the second STA.

Optionally, the first value is different from the second value.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the fifth to eighth aspects, the second field is located in an appearance bitmap field in the multilink element.

Based on the above technical solution, the second field is located in an appearance bitmap field of a second multilink element included in the second radio frame, so that a receiver of the second radio frame can determine the second field based on the appearance bitmap field.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the fifth to eighth aspects, the second radio frame further includes a second information element, where the second information element includes address information of the initiator and address information of the responder.

Optionally, the second information element is a link identification information element (Link Identifier element).

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the second radio frame sent by the second STA may further include a second information element, where the second information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder).

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect, in the second information element, address information of the initiator is any one of the following:

the MAC address of the first STA; or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

The MAC address of the first MLD where the first STA is located; or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

and the MAC address of the third STA, wherein the third STA and the first STA are both positioned in the first MLD, and the BSSID of the BSS where the second STA is positioned is the same as the BSSID of the BSS where the third STA is positioned.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission process, and the second radio frame sent by the second STA may further include a second information element. The second STA may indicate address information of the initiator in the second information element through various implementations as described above.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect, in the second information element, address information of the responder is any one of the following:

a MAC address of the second STA; or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the MAC address of the second MLD where the second STA is located.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission process, and the second radio frame sent by the second STA may further include a second information element. The second STA may indicate address information of the respondent in the second information element through various implementations described above.

A ninth aspect of the present application provides a communication method applied to WLAN communication, where the method is performed by a first STA or the method is performed by a part of a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the first STA, and in the ninth aspect and its possible implementation, the method is described as being performed by the first STA as an example. In the method, a first STA transmits a first radio frame including a first information element and a first multilink element, the first information element being different from the first multilink element, the first information element including MAC address information of the first STA; a second radio frame is received, the second radio frame being a response frame to the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, a first radio frame sent by a first STA carries a multilink element for indicating station information of a first MLD where the first STA is located, and a first information element different from the first multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, the receiving side (for example, the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the first information element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the first information element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

A tenth aspect of the present application provides a communication method applied to WLAN communication, where the method is performed by a second STA or by a part of a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the second STA, and in a sixth aspect and possible implementation manner, the method is described as being performed by the second STA as an example. In the method, a second STA receives a first wireless frame including a first information element including MAC address information of a first STA and a first multilink element; the second STA transmits a second radio frame, which is a response frame to the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame received by the second STA carries a multilink element for indicating the station information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and the first information element different from the first multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, the receiving side (for example, the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the first information element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the first information element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

An eleventh aspect of the present application provides a communication apparatus for use in WLAN communication, where the apparatus is a first STA, or where the apparatus is part of a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-chip, etc.) in the first STA. A transmitting unit in the apparatus is configured to transmit a first radio frame, where the first radio frame includes a first information element and a first multilink element, and the first information element includes MAC address information of a first station STA; the receiving unit in the device is configured to receive a second radio frame, where the second radio frame is a response frame of the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame sent by the sending unit carries a multilink element for indicating the station information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and the first information element different from the first multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, the receiving side (for example, the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the first information element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the first information element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

A twelfth aspect of the present application provides a communications apparatus for use in WLAN communications, the apparatus being a first STA, or the apparatus being part of a component (e.g., a processor, chip, or system-on-chip, etc.) in the first STA. A receiving unit in the apparatus is configured to receive a first radio frame, where the first radio frame includes a first information element and a first multilink element, and the first information element includes MAC address information of a first station STA; the transmitting unit in the device is configured to transmit a second radio frame, where the second radio frame is a response frame of the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame received by the receiving unit carries a multilink element for indicating the station information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and the first information element different from the first multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, the receiving side (for example, the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the first information element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the first information element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the ninth to twelfth aspects, the first information element is a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, the address information of the initiator is MAC address information of the first STA (or expressed as that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the link identification information element), and the address information of the responder is address information of the second STA or address information of an MLD where the second STA is located.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the first information element included in the first radio frame sent by the first STA is a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the initiator is the MAC address of the first STA, so as to indicate that the TDLS initiator is the first STA.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the ninth to twelfth aspects, the first radio frame further includes a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, where the address information of the initiator is MAC address information of a first MLD where the first STA is located, and the address information of the responder is address information of a second STA or address information of an MLD where the second STA is located.

Optionally, the first information element is different from the multilink element and the first information element is different from the link identification information element.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the first radio frame sent by the first STA includes a link identification information element in addition to the first information element and the multilink element. Wherein the link identification information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the initiator is the MAC address of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and is used to indicate that the TDLS initiator is the first MLD where the first STA is located.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the ninth to twelfth aspects, the second radio frame includes a second information element and a second multilink element, and the second information element includes MAC address information of the second station STA.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission process, where when the receiving side of the first radio frame is a multi-link device, the second radio frame is used as a response frame of the first radio frame, and the second radio frame may also include a second multi-link element corresponding to a second MLD where the second STA is located and a second information element, where the second information element includes a MAC address of the second STA. Such that a receiver of the second radio frame (e.g., the first STA) may determine MAC address information of the second STA based on the second information element, and a receiver of a subsequent second radio frame communicates with the second STA based on the MAC address information of the second STA.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the ninth to twelfth aspects, the second information element is a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, the address information of the initiator is MAC address information of the second STA (or expressed as that the MAC address information of the second STA is located in the link identification information element), and the address information of the responder is address information of the second STA or address information of an MLD where the second STA is located.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the second information element included in the second radio frame sent by the second STA is a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the responder is the MAC address of the second STA, so as to indicate that the TDLS responder is the second STA.

Optionally, the second information element is different from the multilink element and the first information element is different from the link identification information element.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the second radio frame sent by the second STA includes a link identification information element in addition to the second information element and the multilink element. Wherein the link identification information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the initiator is MAC address information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and is used to indicate that the TDLS initiator is the first MLD where the first STA is located.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the first radio frame includes a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame; the first STA transmitting the first radio frame includes: the first STA sending the first radio frame to a first access point AP associated with the first STA, the first radio frame further comprising an address one (address 1, a 1) field, an address two (address 2, a 2) field, and an address three (address 3, a 3) field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the first AP, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first STA, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the responder.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS discovery procedure, a TDLS setup procedure, etc., where the first radio frame specifically includes (or is expressed as a bearer) a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame. Wherein the first STA may send the first radio frame to a first AP with which the first STA is associated. The first radio frame also includes an A1 field for indicating an address (RA) of a receiver of the first radio frame, an A2 field for indicating an address (transmitter address, TA) of a sender of the first radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating a destination address (destination address, DA) of the first radio frame.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first aspect to the twelfth aspect, the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame; the first STA transmitting the first radio frame includes: the first STA sending the first radio frame to the second STA, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the responder, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution can be applied to various transmission processes of TDLS, for example, TDLS data transmission process, i.e., the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame. The first STA may specifically send the first wireless frame to the second STA. The first radio frame also includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the first radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the first radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the first radio frame.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame; the first STA receiving the second radio frame comprising: the first STA receives the second radio frame from a first AP with which the first STA is associated, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the first STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first AP, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the responder.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to various transmission processes of TDLS, such as a TDLS setup process, etc., and the second radio frame is specifically a TDLS setup response frame. Wherein the first STA may receive the second wireless frame from the first AP with which the first STA is associated. The second radio frame further includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the second radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the second radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the second radio frame.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the second radio frame includes a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame; the first STA receiving the second radio frame comprising: the first STA receives the second radio frame from the second STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the initiator, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS discovery procedure, a TDLS setup procedure, a TDLS data transmission procedure, etc., where the second radio frame specifically includes (or is expressed as carrying) a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup acknowledgment frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame. Wherein the first STA may receive the second radio frame from the second STA. The second radio frame further includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the second radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the second radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the second radio frame.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the first radio frame includes a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame; the second STA receiving the first wireless frame includes: the second STA receiving the first radio frame from a second AP with which the second STA is associated, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second AP, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the initiator.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS discovery procedure, a TDLS setup procedure, etc., where the first radio frame specifically includes (or is expressed as a bearer) a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame. Wherein the second STA may receive the first wireless frame from a second AP with which the second STA is associated. The first radio frame also includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the first radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the first radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the first radio frame.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first aspect to the twelfth aspect, the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame; the second STA receiving the first wireless frame includes: the second STA receiving the first radio frame from the first STA, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the initiator, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution can be applied to various transmission processes of TDLS, for example, TDLS data transmission process, i.e., the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame. The second STA may specifically receive the first wireless frame sent from the first STA. The first radio frame also includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the first radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the first radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the first radio frame.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame; the second STA transmitting the second radio frame includes: the first STA sends the second wireless frame to a second AP associated with the second STA, wherein the second wireless frame comprises an A1 field, an A2 field and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second AP, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the initiator.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to various transmission processes of TDLS, such as a TDLS setup process, etc., and the second radio frame is specifically a TDLS setup response frame. The second STA may specifically send the second radio frame to a second AP associated with the second STA. The second radio frame further includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the second radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the second radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the second radio frame.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the second radio frame includes a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame; the second STA transmitting the second radio frame includes: the second STA sending the second radio frame to the first STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the initiator, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

Based on the above technical solution, the solution may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS discovery procedure, a TDLS setup procedure, a TDLS data transmission procedure, etc., where the second radio frame specifically includes (or is expressed as carrying) a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup acknowledgment frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame. The second STA may specifically send the second radio frame to a second STA associated with the second STA. The second radio frame further includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the second radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the second radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the second radio frame.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first aspect to the twelfth aspect, the responder is the second STA or a second MLD where the second STA is located.

Based on the above technical solution, in various transmission processes applied to TDLS, the responder indicated by the address information of the responder included in the first radio frame (or the second radio frame) may be the second STA or the second MLD where the second STA is located. In other words, the responder in the TDLS communication link may be the second STA or a second MLD where the second STA is located.

In a possible implementation manner of any one of the first aspect to the twelfth aspect, the initiator is the first STA or a first MLD where the first STA is located.

Based on the above technical solution, in various transmission processes applied to TDLS, the initiator indicated by the address information of the initiator included in the first radio frame (or the second radio frame) may be the first STA or the first MLD where the first STA is located. In other words, the responder in the TDLS communication link may be the first STA or the first MLD where the first STA is located.

A thirteenth aspect of the present embodiments provides a communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory; the memory is used for storing programs or instructions; the at least one processor is configured to execute the program or the instructions to cause the apparatus to implement the method described in the foregoing first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, or to cause the apparatus to implement the method described in the foregoing second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect, or to cause the apparatus to implement the method described in the foregoing fifth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect, or to cause the apparatus to implement the method described in the foregoing sixth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the ninth aspect, or to implement the method described in the foregoing tenth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the tenth aspect.

A fourteenth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a processor performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the first aspect, or the processor performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect or the second aspect, or the processor performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect or the fifth aspect, or the processor performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect or the sixth aspect, or the processor performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the ninth aspect or the ninth aspect, or the processor performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the tenth aspect or the tenth aspect.

A fifteenth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer program product (or computer program) storing one or more computers, which when executed by the processor performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the first aspect, or performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect or the second aspect, or performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect or the fifth aspect, or performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect or the sixth aspect, or performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the ninth aspect or the ninth aspect, or performs a method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the tenth aspect or the tenth aspect.

A sixteenth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a chip system comprising at least one processor for supporting a communication device to implement the functions referred to in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect; or for supporting the communication device to implement the functionality referred to in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect; or for supporting the communication device to implement the functionality referred to in the fifth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect; or for supporting the communication device to implement the functionality referred to in the sixth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect; or for supporting the communication device to carry out the functions referred to in the ninth aspect or any one of the possible implementations thereof; or for supporting the communication device to carry out the functions referred to in the tenth aspect or any one of the possible implementations thereof.

In one possible design, the system-on-chip may further include a memory to hold the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device. The chip system can be composed of chips, and can also comprise chips and other discrete devices. Optionally, the system on a chip further comprises interface circuitry providing program instructions and/or data to the at least one processor.

An eleventh aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a communication system, which includes the communication device of the third aspect and the communication device of the fourth aspect, and/or which includes the communication device of the seventh aspect and the communication device of the eighth aspect, and/or which includes the communication device of the eleventh aspect and the communication device of the twelfth aspect.

The technical effects of any one of the designs of the thirteenth to sixteenth aspects may be referred to the technical effects of the different implementations of the first to twelfth aspects, and are not described herein.

As can be seen from the above technical solution, for the sender of the first radio frame, based on the first field, it is possible to flexibly set whether the MAC address information of the first STA is included in the multi-link element, and make different indications of the first field suitable for different communication scenarios. Accordingly, for the receiver of the first radio frame, whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element is flexibly selected based on the first field, and when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA, the MAC address information of the first STA can be accurately known.

Further, in some implementations, the receiver of the first wireless frame may determine the MAC address information of the first STA based on the first field of the multilink element (or the multilink element, or the link identification information element, or other information elements other than the multilink element and different from the link identification information element) so that the receiver of the first wireless frame may effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA. In addition, after knowing the MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the first wireless frame may further communicate with the first STA based on the TDLS based on the MAC address information of the first STA, so as to improve communication efficiency.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system as applied herein;

fig. 2a is a schematic diagram of a radio frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2b is another schematic diagram of a radio frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3a is another schematic diagram of a radio frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3b is another schematic diagram of a radio frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is another schematic diagram of a radio frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5a is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 5b is another schematic diagram of a radio frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6a is another schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6b is another schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7a is another schematic diagram of a communication system as applied herein;

FIG. 7b is another schematic diagram of a communication system as applied herein;

FIG. 7c is another schematic diagram of a communication system as applied herein;

FIG. 7d is another schematic diagram of a communication system as applied herein;

fig. 8a is another schematic diagram of a radio frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8b is another schematic diagram of a radio frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8c is another schematic diagram of a radio frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is another schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is another schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Throughout this application, unless specifically stated otherwise, identical or similar parts between the various embodiments may be referred to each other. In the various embodiments and the various implementation/implementation methods in the various embodiments in this application, if no special description and logic conflict exist, terms and/or descriptions between different embodiments and between the various implementation/implementation methods in the various embodiments may be consistent and may be mutually referred to, technical features in the different embodiments and the various implementation/implementation methods in the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments, implementations, implementation methods, or implementation methods according to their inherent logic relationships. The embodiments of the present application described below are not intended to limit the scope of the present application.

It can be appreciated that some optional features of the embodiments of the present application may be implemented independently in some scenarios, independent of other features, such as the scheme on which they are currently based, to solve corresponding technical problems, achieve corresponding effects, or may be combined with other features according to requirements in some scenarios. Accordingly, the apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application may also implement these features or functions accordingly, which is not described herein.

In the description of the present application, unless otherwise indicated, "a plurality" means two or more than two. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first", "second", and the like are used to distinguish the same item or similar items having substantially the same function and effect. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the words "first," "second," and the like do not limit the amount and order of execution, and that the words "first," "second," and the like do not necessarily differ. Meanwhile, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "such as" are used to mean serving as examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete fashion that may be readily understood.

In order to facilitate understanding of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, a system architecture of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described below. It can be understood that the system architecture described in the embodiments of the present application is for more clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application.

The technical scheme provided by the application can be suitable for WLAN scenes, for example, can be suitable for IEEE 802.11 system standards, such as 802.11a/b/g standards, 802.11n standards, 802.11ac standards, 802.11ax standards, or the next generation of the standards, such as 802.11be standards or the standards of the next generation.

Although the embodiments of the present application are described primarily with respect to deploying WLAN networks, and in particular networks employing the IEEE 802.11 system standard, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that aspects of the present application may be extended to other networks employing various standards or protocols, such as BLUETOOTH, high performance wireless LAN (high performance radio LAN, HIPERLAN), a wireless standard similar to the IEEE 802.1 standard used primarily in europe, and Wide Area Networks (WANs), personal area networks (personal area network, PANs), or other now known or later developed networks. Accordingly, the various aspects provided herein may be applicable to any suitable wireless network regardless of the coverage area and wireless access protocol used.

The above-mentioned communication system to which the present application is applied is merely illustrative, and the communication system to which the present application is applied is not limited thereto, and is generally described herein, and will not be described in detail.

The communication method and apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to a wireless communication system, where the wireless communication system may be a wireless local area network (wireless local area network, WLAN), and the method may be implemented by a communication device in the wireless communication system or a chip or a processor in the communication device, where the communication device may be a wireless communication device supporting parallel transmission of multiple links, for example, a multi-link device (MLD) or a multi-band device (multi-band device). A multi-link device has higher transmission efficiency and higher throughput than a device that supports only a single link transmission.

Referring to fig. 1, a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application is provided. In the communication system shown in fig. 1, a communication apparatus (a transmission apparatus applied to establishment of a direct link of a channel) according to the present application is described as an example of a multi-link device; in some embodiments, the communication apparatus (the radio frame transmitting apparatus or the radio frame receiving apparatus) related to the present application may also be a single link device, and the illustration in fig. 1 is only an example and should not be construed as limiting the present application.

As shown in fig. 1, the communication system mainly includes at least one Multi-link AP device (Multi-link AP device) and at least one Multi-link non-AP STA device (Multi-link STA device), where the Multi-link AP device and the Multi-link STA device may be collectively referred to as a Multi-link device. The multilink device will be described below.

In general, a multi-link device includes one or more affiliated stations (affiliated station, denoted as afiiated STAs), which are logical stations that can operate on a link. The affiliated stations may be Access Points (APs) or non-access point stations (non-access point station, non-AP STAs). For convenience of description, the multi-link device with the station being an AP may be referred to as a multi-link AP or multi-link AP device (AP multi-link device) or an AP multi-link device (AP MLD), and the multi-link device with the station being a non-AP STA (multi-link non-AP STA device, non-AP MLD) may be referred to as a multi-link STA or multi-link STA device or STA multi-link device (STA multi-link device). For convenience of description, "multi-link device including affiliated STA" is also briefly described as "multi-link device including STA" in the embodiment of the present application.

Notably, the multi-link device includes multiple logical stations, each operating on one link, but allowing multiple logical stations to operate on the same link. The link identifiers mentioned below characterize a station operating on a link, i.e. if there are more than 1 station on a link, more than 1 link identifier is required to characterize them. The links referred to below are sometimes also representative of stations operating on the links.

In the scenario shown in fig. 1, a processor (or a processing module, a processing unit, etc. is only illustrated by taking a processor as an example) included in the multi-link device may have various implementations to implement information processing and interaction, and a multi-link station device including a plurality of STAs is illustrated below as an example.

In one possible implementation, each STA in the multi-link station apparatus is provided with an independent processor.

Alternatively, a plurality of STAs in the multi-link station device may communicate with each other through an independent processor, so as to implement information interaction.

In another possible implementation, each STA in the multi-link station apparatus has one (or more) common (or shared) processor in addition to an independent processor.

Optionally, a plurality of STAs in the multi-link site device can communicate through independent processors respectively provided to realize information interaction; and/or, a plurality of STAs in the multi-link site device can communicate with the common (or shared) processor through independent processors of the STAs so as to realize information interaction.

In another possible implementation, the multilink site device has one (or more) common (or shared) processors.

Alternatively, multiple STAs in the multi-link station device may communicate with the common (or shared) processor to implement information interaction.

The multi-link AP device and the multi-link STA may use link identification to identify a link or a station on a link during data transmission. Prior to communication, the multi-link AP device and the multi-link STA device may negotiate or communicate a link identifier to a link or a station on a link. Therefore, in data transmission, a large amount of signaling information is not required to be transmitted to indicate a link or a station on the link, and the link identification is carried, so that the signaling overhead is reduced, and the transmission efficiency is improved.

In one example, when the multi-link AP device establishes a BSS, a transmitted management frame, such as a beacon (beacon) frame, may carry an element that includes a plurality of link identification information fields, each of which may suggest a link identification to station operating on a link. Each link identification information field includes a link identification, and further includes: one or more of a medium access control (medium access control, MAC) address, an operation set, a channel number, wherein one or more of the MAC address, the operation set, the channel number may indicate a link; in another example, the multi-link AP device and the multi-link station device negotiate multiple link identification information fields during the multi-link establishment association process. In subsequent communications, the multi-link AP device or multi-link station device may characterize a station in the multi-link device by using a link identification that may also characterize one or more attributes in the MAC address, operational set, channel number of the station. The MAC address may also be replaced by an association identifier of the associated multilink AP device.

If multiple stations are operating on a link, then the link identification (a numeric ID) is characterized in a sense that includes, in addition to the set of operations on which the link is located, the channel number, the station identification operating on the link, such as the station's MAC address or (association identifier, AID).

The multi-link device may enable wireless communications following the 802.11 family of protocols, for example, following an extremely high throughput (extremely high throughput, EHT) station, or following an 802.11 be-based or 802.11 be-compatible station, to enable communications with other devices, which may or may not be multi-link devices.

The non-AP MLD referred to in the present application may be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor or a wireless communication terminal. Such as a user terminal, user equipment, access device, subscriber station, subscriber unit, mobile station, user agent, user equipment supporting Wi-Fi communication functions, where the user terminal may include various handheld devices, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, internet of things (internet of things, ioT) devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, as well as various forms of User Equipment (UE), mobile Station (MS), terminal device (terminal equipment), portable communication device, handset, portable computing device, entertainment device, gaming device or system, global positioning system device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate over a network via a wireless medium, etc. In addition, the non-AP MLD may support the 802.11be system or the 802.11be next generation WLAN system. The non-AP MLD can also support a plurality of WLAN systems such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a and the like.

The AP MLD according to the embodiment of the present application may be a device deployed in a wireless communication network to provide a wireless communication function for its associated non-AP, and is mainly deployed in a home, a building, and a campus, where a typical coverage radius is several tens meters to hundreds meters, and of course, may also be deployed outdoors. The AP MLD corresponds to a bridge connecting a wired network and a wireless network, and mainly serves to connect each wireless network client together and then access the wireless network to the ethernet. Specifically, the AP MLD may be a base station with a Wi-Fi chip, a router, a gateway, a repeater, a communication server, a switch, or a bridge, where the base station may include various macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, and so on. In addition, the AP MLD may support an 802.11be system or a next generation WLAN system of the 802.11be system. The AP MLD may also support WLAN standards such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11 a.

The foregoing briefly describes a system architecture of an embodiment of the present application, and in order to better understand the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, several matters related to the embodiments of the present application will be described below.

Channel direct link establishment (tunneled direct link setup, TDLS)

In a WLAN communication network, the number of Stations (STAs) associated with the same Access Point (AP) may be plural, and the plural STAs may be referred to as STAs. If the STAs are within the reachable range of wireless communication, the STAs can establish a direct link based on TDLS, so that point-to-point communication is performed, the transmission rate is improved, and the time delay is reduced. Through the TDLS discovery process and the TDLS establishment process, two stations can establish a direct link so as to perform point-to-point communication. When the direct link is no longer needed, STAs may break the direct link through a TDLS teardown (teardown) process.

Discovery (discovery) procedure of tdls. In the discovery process of TDLS, a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) needs to obtain information of a TDLS responder (responder) through the TDLS discovery process. The method specifically comprises the following steps:

step 1: the initiator sends a channel direct link setup discovery request (TDLS discovery request) frame, which TDLS discovery request frames carry information about the initiator, and a link identification information element (Link Identifier element), which Link Identifer element is used to carry information about the direct link, including the address of the initiator, the address of the responder, and the BSSID. Wherein the BSSID is an identifier of the BSS in which the initiator and the responder are located, in other words, the initiator and the responder must be within the same BSS.

Alternatively, one implementation of the frame format of Link Identifer element is shown in fig. 2 a. In fig. 2a, link Identifer element includes:

an Element identification (Element ID) field, the number of bytes occupied being 1; a Length field, the number of bytes occupied being 1; a Basic Service Set Identification (BSSID) field, the number of bytes occupied being 6; a station address (TDLS initiator STA Address) field of the TDLS initiator, the number of bytes occupied being 6; the TDLS responder's site address (TDLS response STA Address) field occupies 6 bytes.

Alternatively, the initiator may send the TDLS discovery request frame to the responder through the AP. For example, the initiator transmitting TDLS discovery request frames includes the initiator transmitting a first frame to the AP, the first frame including the TDLS discovery request frame; the AP also includes transmitting a second frame to the responder, the second frame including the TDLS discovery request frame.

Illustratively, the frame structure of a data frame carrying a TDLS discovery request frame sent by the initiator to the AP is shown in fig. 2 b. Comprising the following information:

frame Control (Frame Control), duration (Duration), address 1 (Address 1), address 2 (Address 2), address 3 (Address 3), sequence Control (Sequence Control), address 4 (Address 4), quality of service Control (quality of service contr, qoS Control), high throughput Control (high throughput contr, HT Control), frame Body (Frame Body), frame check Sequence (Frame check Sequence, FCS).

Optionally, in the example shown in fig. 2b, other information located before the "Frame Body" (e.g. "Frame Control), duration (Duration), address 1 (Address 1), address 2 (Address 2), address 3 (Address 3), sequence Control (Sequence Control), address 4 (Address 4), quality of service Control (quality of service contr, qoS Control), high throughput Control (high throughput contr, HT Control)") may be referred to as a MAC Header (field).

Wherein Address 1 represents the Address (RA, receiver Address) of the receiver; address 2 represents the Address (TA, transmitter Address) of the sender; address 3 depends on the values of the To DS and From DS fields in Frame Control.

When the data frame (when the sender is STA and the receiver is AP) is an uplink data frame, the Address 3 field indicates a destination Address (destination Address, DA).

When the data frame (when the sender is an AP and the receiver is an STA) is a downlink data frame, the Address 3 field indicates a Source Address (SA).

Prior to the TDLS discovery process, the initiator may obtain the MAC address of the responder through the ARP protocol or proxy ARP protocol, thereby setting the destination address field (DA) of the first frame to the MAC address of the responder. After receiving the first frame, the AP forwards the data frame. That is, another data frame is generated and transmitted to the second STA.

Alternatively, in the TDLS discovery request Frame, the Frame structure of the link identification information element carried in the Frame Body may refer to the implementation procedure shown in fig. 2 a.

It should be noted that the frame format shown in fig. 2b may also be applied to other communication scenarios besides TDLS, for example, a transmission/reception scenario of an association request frame (or an association response frame), a transmission/reception scenario of a reassociation request frame (or a reassociation response frame), or other scenarios, which are not limited herein.

Step 2: the responder sends a channel direct link setup discovery response (TDLS discovery response) frame to the initiator, the TDLS discovery response frame carrying information about the responder and also including Link Identifier element, the content in Link Identifer element being the same as the content in Link Identifier element in TDLS discovery request frame. It should be noted that if the value of the BSSID in Link Identifier element in TDLS dicovery request received by the responder is different from the value of the BSSID of its associated BSS, no TDLS discovery response frames are replied.

Tdls setup (setup) procedure. The initiator needs to establish a direct link with the responder through a TDLS establishment process, which specifically comprises the following steps:

Step 1: the initiator sends a channel direct link setup request (TDLS setup request) frame, which TDLS setup request frame includes information about the initiator and information about the key generation, denoted channel direct link setup peer key handshake message 1 (TPK Handshake Message 1).

Alternatively, the process of transmitting TDLS setup request frames by the initiator may include the initiator transmitting a third frame to the AP, the third frame including the TDLS setup request frame; the AP may also be included to send a fourth frame to the responder, the fourth frame including the TDLS setup request frame.

Step 2: the response frame sends a channel direct link setup response (TDLS setup response) frame, and the TDLS setup response frame includes information about the response frame and information about key generation, denoted as channel direct link setup peer key handshake message 2 (TPK Handshake Message 2).

Optionally, the process of the responder transmitting TDLS setup response frames may include the responder transmitting a fifth frame to the AP, the fifth frame including the TDLS setup response frames; the AP may also be included to transmit a sixth frame to the responder, the sixth frame including the TDLS setup response frame.

Step 3: the initiator sends a TDLS setup confirm (TDLS setup confirm) frame, which TDLS setup confirm frame includes information about the initiator and information about the key generation, a tunnel direct link setup peer key handshake message 3 (TPK Handshake Message 3).

Optionally, the process of transmitting TDLS setup confirm frames by the initiator may include the initiator transmitting a seventh frame to the AP, the seventh frame including the TDLS setup confirm frame; the AP may also be included to send an eighth frame to the responder, the eighth frame including the TDLS setup confirm frame.

Optionally, TPK Handshake Message 1,TPK Handshake Message 2,TPK Handshake Message 3 each includes a robust security network element (robust security network element, RSNE) information element and a fast basic service set conversion element (fast BSS Transition element, FTE) information element.

Alternatively, an example of a frame format of the RSNE information element is shown in FIG. 3 a. In fig. 3a, the RSNE information element includes:

an Element identification (Element ID) field, the number of bytes occupied being 1; a Length field, the number of bytes occupied being 1; a version (Vision) field, the number of bytes occupied being 2; a group data encryption suite (Group Data Cipher Suite) field, the number of bytes occupied being 0 or 4; a pairwise cipher suite count (Pairwise Cipher Suite Count) field, the number of bytes occupied being 0 or 2; a pairwise cipher suite list (Pairwise Cipher Suite List) field, the number of bytes occupied is 0 or (4×m, m is the number of pairwise cipher suites); further comprises:

An authentication and key management Suite Count (authentication and key management Suite Count, AKM Suite Count) field, the number of bytes occupied being 0 or 2; an authentication and key management Suite List (authentication and key management Suite List, AKM Suite List) field, the number of bytes occupied being 0 or (4×n, n being the number of authentication and key management suites); a robust security network element capability information (RSN Capabilities) field, the number of bytes occupied being 0 or 2; a pairwise master key identification count (pairwise master key identifier count, PMKID count) field, the number of bytes occupied being 0 or 2; a pairwise master key identification List (pairwise master key identifier List, PMKID List) field, the number of bytes occupied being 0 or (16 x s, s being the number of pairwise master key identifications); the group management encryption suite (Group management Cipher Suite) field occupies a byte number of 0 or 4.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 3b, one example of a frame format of the FTE information element, in fig. 3b, the FTE information element includes:

an Element identification (Element ID) field, the number of bytes occupied being 1; a Length field, the number of bytes occupied being 1; a message integrity code Control (message integrity code Control, MIC Control) field, the number of bytes occupied being 2; a message integrity code (message integrity code, MIC) field, the number of bytes occupied being variable; a random number (authenticator nonce, ANonce) field of the authenticator, the number of bytes occupied being 32; a requester's random number (SNonce) field, the number of bytes occupied being 32; an optional parameter (OptionalParameter (s)) is the number of bytes occupied as variable.

Multiple BSSID

The current 802.11 standard supports a multiple basic service set identification set (multiple basic service set identifier set, multiple BSSID, also referred to as multiple BSSID set) feature, whose basic function is to form multiple virtual APs in one device to serve different types of STAs. Multiple virtual APs may be managed together to save management overhead.

The multiple BSSID set may be a combination of cooperating APs, all of which use the same set of operations, channel numbers, and antenna interfaces. In general, in the multi-BSSID set, there is an AP corresponding to BSSID (Transmitted BSSID) of one transmission, and other APs are all APs corresponding to Nontransmitted BSSID (non-transmission). The information of the multiple BSSID set (i.e., multiple BSSID elements) is carried in a management frame (e.g., beacon frame or probe response frame or neighbor report) sent by Transmitted BSSID AP. The BSSID information of the AP of Nontransmitted BSSID is derived by receiving the above beacon frame or probe response frame, or Multiple BSSID elements in neighbor report, etc.

In addition, in the multi-BSSID technology, one physical AP may virtualize a plurality of logical APs, each virtual AP manages one BSS, and different virtual APs generally have different SSID and authority, such as security mechanism or transmission opportunity. Among the multiple APs after virtualization, there is one virtual AP whose BSSID is configured as a Transmitted (Transmitted) BSSID, which may be referred to as a Transmitted (Transmitted) AP, and other virtual APs whose BSSIDs are configured as non-ttransmitted BSSID, which may be referred to as non-Transmitted (non-Transmitted) APs. In general, multiple APs in a Multiple BSSID can also be understood as AP devices virtualizing Multiple cooperating AP devices. Only an AP with BSSID Transmitted BSSID can send a beacon frame (beacon) and a Probe Response frame (Probe Response), if the Probe Request frame (Probe Request) sent by the STA is to an AP with BSSID Nontransmitted BSSID in the multiple BSSID set, the AP with BSSID Transmittedbssid needs to help respond to the Probe Response frame. The beacon frame transmitted by the AP with BSSID Transmitted BSSID includes Multiple BSSID elements, and other Nontransmitted BSSID APs cannot transmit the beacon frame. The association identities (association identifier, AID) assigned by the multiple virtual APs to the stations it manages are shared with a space, i.e. the AID assigned by the stations in the multiple virtual BSSs cannot coincide.

Optionally, the multiple BSSID element is shown in table 1, including an element ID, a length, a maximum BSSID indication, and a subelement. Wherein the value (n) of the maximum BSSID indication field is used to calculate that the maximum number of BSSIDs contained in the multi-BSSID set is 2 n (i.e., to the power of 2 n), and the optional subelements include information of each non-transmitted BSSID. The receiving end can calculate the value of each BSSID in the multi-BSSID set according to the reference BSSID, the maximum BSSID indication and the sequence number of the BSSID, each BSSID comprises 48 bits, wherein the value of the upper (48-n) bit of each BSSID in the multi-BSSID set is the same as the value of the upper (48-n) bit of the reference BSSID, the value of the lower n bit of each BSSID in the multi-BSSID set is the sum of the value of the lower n bit of the reference BSSID and the value of the sequence number x of the BSSID, and then modulo 2 n, wherein the reference BSSID (i.e. Transmitted BSSID) is carried in the BSSID field in the MAC header in the frame (such as a beacon frame) containing the Multiple BSSID element, and the specific calculation method can refer to 802.11-2016 standard protocol.

TABLE 1

	Element ID	Length of	Maximum BSSID indication	Optional subelements
					Bytes	1	1	1	Variable

Wherein the "optional subelement" in table 1 may be as shown in table 2.

TABLE 2

Child element ID	Name of the name	Expansion of
			0	Nontransmitted BSSID profile	Cannot be expanded
1-220	Reservation of
			221	Vendor-specific	Vendor definition
222-255	Reservation of

Optionally, in table 2, the non-transport basic service set identification profile (Nontransmitted BSSID profile) includes one or more elements of an AP with Nontransmitted BSSID or a directed multi gigabit station (DMG STA).

Three address resolution protocol (address resolution protocol, ARP)

The address resolution protocol is a transmission control protocol (transmission control protocol, TCP) TCP/internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) that obtains a physical address from an IP address. Broadcasting an ARP request containing a target IP address to all hosts on a local area network when the hosts send information, and receiving a return message so as to determine the physical address of the target; after receiving the return message, the IP address and the physical address are stored in the local ARP cache and kept for a certain time, and the ARP cache is directly inquired when the request is next time so as to save resources.

Where the address resolution protocol operates in one network segment and the proxy ARP (Proxy ARP) operates between different network segments, it is typically used by devices such as routers to reply to ARP requests of hosts of the home network segment instead of hosts in another network segment. For example, host 1 (address 192.168.20.66/24) needs to send a message to host 2 (address 192.168.20.20/24), because host 1 is unaware of the existence of a subnet and host 1 is unaware of the same host network segment as host 1 and host 2, host 1 will send an ARP protocol request broadcast message request 192.168.20.20 MAC address. At this time, the router will recognize that the destination address of the message belongs to another subnet, and thus the router replies to the host 1 with the MAC address of the router. The host 1 then forwards the data packets destined for the host 2 to the MAC address of the router, which forwards the data packets to the host 2. The proxy ARP protocol makes the subnet network topology transparent to the host (or the router communicates with host 1 with the router's MAC address as the PC2 MAC address; or the router spoofs host 1 with an unrealistic host 2 MAC address).

4. Multilink element

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a format 300 of a multilink element. As shown in fig. 4, the multilink element includes an element ID (Element Identifier), a Length (Length) 302, an element ID extension (Element ID Extension) 303, a multilink Control (Multi-Link Control) 304, a common information Field including a Length 305, an MLD MAC address (MLD MAC address) …, a Field k (Field k) 306 such as a capability Field, etc., a Profile (Per-STA Profile x) 307 for each STA x, and a Profile (Per-STA Profile y) 308 for each STA y, if present.

The MLD common information part 310 is used for carrying related information of MLD. The following profile 307 for each STA x and, if present, profile 308 for each STA y belong to an optional subelement 320 representing per-STA profile information for each site.

Further, the multi-link control 304 includes a Type (Type) 314, a field k occurrence (324, reserved) 334. By way of example, the Type 314 may be a base Type or a probe request Type.

Optionally, the multilink element further comprises a link information section consisting of one or more "per STA profiles". The profile 307 of each STA x includes a sub-element ID (Subelement ID), a Length 327, and a content 337, wherein the content 337 includes a STA control field (Per-STA control field) 3371, a STA information field 3372, and a STA profile field 3373. The STA control field 3371 includes a Link ID (Link ID) 33711 and a STA MAC address occurrence (STA MAC Address present) 33712. The STA information field 3372 includes a length 33721 and a STA MAC Address (STA MAC Address) 33722 …. STA profile field 3373 includes fields x 33731, …, element Y (Element Y) 33732, …, non-inherited Element (Non-Inheritance Element), if present, 33733.

It is understood that other fields, not shown here, may also be included between the MLD MAC address 305 and the field k 306 in fig. 4. STA info field 3372 also includes other fields, STA profile field 33733 also includes other fields or elements, such as field 1, field 2, … element 1, element 2, …, etc., where the non-inherited element 33733 is the last element.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that more and more wireless devices support multi-link communications, such as simultaneous communications in the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz), 5GHz, and 6GHz frequency bands, or simultaneous communications in different channels in the same frequency band, increasing the rate of communications between devices. Such devices are commonly referred to as multi-link devices (MLDs), which may be access point multi-link devices (access point multi-link devices, AP MLDs) that include multiple Access Points (APs), or non-access point multi-link devices (non-access point multi-link devices, non-AP MLDs) that include multiple Stations (STAs).

In some scenarios, the MAC Header field included in a radio frame received by a receiver of the radio frame may include address information of a sender of the radio frame to indicate to the receiver of the radio frame that the radio frame is from the sender.

In other scenarios, a radio frame sent by a sender of a radio frame may need to be forwarded by a forwarding device to be received by a receiver of the radio frame, so that a MAC Header field included in the radio frame received by the receiver of the radio frame may include address information of the forwarding device to indicate to the receiver of the radio frame that the radio frame is from the forwarding device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for enabling a receiver of a first wireless frame to flexibly select whether to receive MAC address information of a first STA in a multi-link element based on a first field in the first wireless frame, and accurately acquire the MAC address information of the first STA when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA.

Referring to fig. 5a, a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in the present application is provided, and the method includes the following steps.

S101, transmitting Fang Shengcheng the first radio frame.

In this embodiment, the sender receives the first radio frame in step S101. Wherein the first radio frame includes a multilink element including a first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA.

S102, the sender sends a first wireless frame.

In this embodiment, the sender sends a first radio frame in step S102, and the receiver receives the first radio frame in step S102.

Optionally, the sender may perform transmission preprocessing on the first radio frame, and send a processing result obtained by the transmission preprocessing in step S102; for example, the transmission preprocessing may include encryption, scrambling, and the like. Correspondingly, the receiver can receive the processing result (obtained by sending the first radio frame and performing sending pretreatment), and in step S102, perform receiving pretreatment on the processing result to obtain a management frame; for example, the reception preprocessing may include decryption, descrambling, and the like.

S103, the receiver determines whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element based on the first field.

In this embodiment, after the receiving side receives the first radio frame in step S102, in step S103, the receiving side determines whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multilink element based on the first field in the multilink element.

It should be noted that, in the implementation shown in fig. 5a, the sender of the first radio frame may be denoted as the first STA, and the receiver of the first radio frame may be denoted as the second STA.

Specifically, as the sender of the first radio frame, the "first STA" is an "STA" indicated by a Profile (Per-STA Profile) of each station in the multi-link element, where the first radio frame carrying the multi-link element is sent by the MLD. When the MLD is an AP MLD, the Per-STA Profile indicates Profile information of a certain AP in the AP MLD (in other words, "first STA" is AP); when the MLD is a non-AP MLD, the Per-STA Profile indicates Profile information of a certain STA in the non-AP MLD (in other words, "first STA" is STA).

In addition, in the implementation shown in fig. 5a, as the receiving side of the first radio frame, the "second STA" that receives the first radio frame carrying the multilink element may be a single link device, or may be one "STA" in the MLD. When the second STA is a certain STA in the AP MLD, the second STA is an AP; when the second STA is a certain "STA" in the non-AP MLD, the second STA is an STA.

In one possible implementation, the first STA is in the first radio frame generated in step S101, where the first field is located in a Presence Bitmap (Presence Bitmap) field in the multilink element. Specifically, the first field is located in an appearance bitmap field of a multilink element included in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame may determine the first field based on the appearance bitmap field and determine whether to receive MAC address information of the first STA in the multilink element based on the first field in step S103.

Illustratively, one implementation example of the multilink element is in the frame format of fig. 4. As an alternative implementation, the Presence Bitmap (Presence Bitmap) field may specifically be the field k Presence (324) in fig. 4, where one (or more) bits in the field k Presence (324) are used as the first field.

In one possible implementation, when the value of the first field is a first value, the first field is used to indicate that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, and the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA.

Optionally, the first value is different from the second value.

Illustratively, the first field may be implemented by one bit or a plurality of bits, and a one-bit implementation procedure is described herein as an example, that is, the value corresponding to the first field may be "1" or "0".

For example, when the first value is "1" and the second value is "0", the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA through the first value (i.e., the value is "1"), and the first field indicates that the multi-link element does not include MAC address information of the first STA through the second value (i.e., the value is "0").

For another example, when the first value is "0" and the second value is "1", the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA through the first value (i.e., the value is "0"), and the first field indicates that the multi-link element does not include MAC address information of the first STA through the second value (i.e., the value is "1").

The different meanings indicated by the first field will be explained in the following by different implementations.

In a first implementation manner, in the first radio frame generated in step S101, when the first field is used to indicate that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the multi-link element includes a Common information (Common Info) field, and the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the Common information field.

Thus, for the sender of the first radio frame (i.e., the first STA), carrying the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element may be implemented based on the first field, and the indication of the first field is adapted to the communication scenario in which the receiver of the first radio frame needs to receive the MAC address information of the first STA. Accordingly, for the receiver of the first wireless frame (i.e., the second STA), based on the first field, it may be determined that the MAC address information of the first STA needs to be received, and the MAC address information of the first STA is received in the multilink element, i.e., the second STA may accurately learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

Specifically, the MAC address information of the first STA is located in a common information field of the multilink element included in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame may determine the MAC address information of the first STA based on the common information field in step S103.

Alternatively, the MAC address information of the first STA may be located at other positions in the multilink element.

Illustratively, as can be seen from the foregoing description of the channel direct link setup (tunneled direct link setup, TDLS), the link identification information element shown in fig. 2a may be carried in a radio frame transmitted for communication based on TDLS.

If the communication process based on TDLS does not involve a multi-link communication scenario, that is, when a certain STA is a single-link device, the STA may set the value of the field "site address of TDLS initiator" shown in fig. 2a as the MAC address information of the STA when sending a radio frame, so as to indicate that the STA is the TDLS initiator in the TDLS communication process.

If the communication process based on TDLS involves a multi-link communication scenario, that is, when a certain STA is a certain STA in a multi-link device, the STA may be used as a sender to perform the communication process shown in fig. 5a, that is, a first radio frame sent by the STA (that is, a first STA) carries a multi-link element for indicating multi-link information of an MLD where the STA is located.

The first radio frame sent by the first STA in step S102 is taken as an example of a TDLS discovery request frame transmitted in the TDLS communication process. In the first radio frame, the field of the link identification information element TDLS initiator STA Address may be valued as the MLD MAC address of the first MLD. The setting is to make the value of SA of the data frame forwarded by the AP to the second STA consistent with the MLD MAC address of the first MLD, so that the second STA can obtain the consistent address of the initiator according to SA or TDLS initiator STA Address when receiving the forwarded data frame, thereby avoiding confusion.

Specifically, the TDLS discovery request frame may be wrapped in a certain data frame (denoted as a first data frame) that the first STA transmits to the AP associated with the first STA, where the frame format of the first data frame may be shown with reference to fig. 5 b. In comparison with fig. 2b, fig. 5b details the information contained in the "Frame Body". The TDLS discovery request Frame may be specifically carried in a "Frame Body" (as shown in fig. 5 b), where the "Frame Body" includes the following information:

category (Category), TDLS Action (TDLS Action), dialog Token (Dialog Token), link identification information element (Link Identifier), multi-Link element (Multi-Link element).

In the first data frame, address 1 of the first data frame is the MAC Address of the AP, address 2 is the Address of the first STA, and Address 3 is the MLD MAC Address of the second MLD.

Thereafter, since the TDLS discovery request frame is forwarded by the AP, it is carried in another data frame (denoted as a second data frame) (the frame format of the second data frame may be as shown with reference to fig. 2 b). In the second data frame, address 1 of the second data frame is the MAC Address of the second STA, address 2 is the MAC Address of the AP (note: this Address may be different from the MAC Address of the AP in the first data frame because it may be forwarded on another link), and Address 3 is the MLD MAC Address of the first MLD. The second STA cannot learn the MAC address of the first STA when receiving the second data frame, and thus cannot obtain the address information of the first STA in the TDLS discovery process.

To solve this problem, when the first STA transmits the TDLS discovery request frame, the MAC address of the first STA may be carried in the first data frame carrying the TDLS discovery request frame. The MAC address of the first STA may be carried in the multilink element of the first data frame.

For this purpose, in this scenario, the first STA may carry a first field in the multi-link element in the first radio frame, where the first field is used to indicate that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, so that the second STA determines, based on the first field, that the multi-link element in the first radio frame carries the MAC address information of the first STA. So that the second STA may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the indication of the first field when the second STA needs to acquire the MAC address information of the first STA. In addition, the second STA may also communicate with the first STA based on TDLS based on the MAC address information of the first STA after learning the MAC address information of the first STA.

Alternatively, the communication process corresponding to the implementation shown in fig. 5a may be a communication process of TDLS (or other communication processes, which are not limited herein), that is, the generation process, the transmission process, and the receiving process of the first radio frame related to fig. 5a are communication processes of TDLS.

When the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the first radio frame includes any one of:

a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS discovery response frame, a TDLS setup request frame, a TDLS setup response frame, a TDLS setup confirm frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, a TDLS data frame, a response frame of a TDLS data frame.

Optionally, the sender of the first wireless frame (e.g., the first STA) is an initiator in the TDLS communication procedure, and the receiver of the first wireless frame (e.g., the second STA) is a responder in the TDLS communication procedure.

Optionally, the sender of the first radio frame (e.g., the first STA) is a responder in the TDLS communication procedure, and the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) is an initiator in the TDLS communication procedure.

An implementation one is illustrated, illustratively, in one example of an implementation in which the frame format of fig. 4 is a multi-link element. As an alternative implementation, the Presence Bitmap (Presence Bitmap) field may specifically be the field k Presence (324) in fig. 4, where one (or more) bits in the field k Presence (324) are used as the first field. Further, field k (306) may be used to carry the MAC address of the first STA.

By way of example, implementation one (when it is the communication procedure of TDLS) will be exemplarily described below with reference to the communication scenario referred to in fig. 5a in fig. 7a to 7 d.

Note that, in the scenarios shown in fig. 7a to 7d, a double straight line between an AP and an STA indicates that the AP is associated with the STA (or the STA is associated with the AP). In addition, since the implementation-one communication procedure involving TDLS, the sender of the first wireless frame (e.g., the first STA) is specifically a certain STA in the non-AP MLD, the receiver of the first wireless frame (e.g., the second STA) is specifically a certain STA in the other non-AP MLD, or the receiver of the first wireless frame (e.g., the second STA) is specifically a single link device and the single link device is a STA.

For example, in the scenario shown in fig. 7a, the first STA is one STA in a non-AP MLD (e.g., first MLD), and the second STA is a single link device. The non-AP MLD where the first STA is located is the non-AP MLD1 in fig. 7a, and the first STA may be STA11 in fig. 7a, where the STA11 is associated with AP11 in the AP MLD.

As can be seen from the scenario shown in fig. 7a, since STA11 and STA21 are associated with the same BSS (i.e., the BSS in which AP11 is located), STA21 can perform communication based on TDLS as a second STA and a first STA.

As another example, in the scenario shown in fig. 7b, the first STA is one STA in a non-AP MLD (e.g., first MLD), and the second STA is a single link device. The non-AP MLD where the first STA is located is the non-AP MLD1 in fig. 7b, and the first STA may be STA11 in fig. 7a, where the STA11 is associated with the AP11 in the AP MLD 1.

Wherein different APs in the same multi-BSSID set use the same communication parameters (e.g., operation set, channel number, antenna port, etc.), such that STAs associated with different APs in the same multi-BSSID set may also need to communicate based on TDLS. For this reason, in fig. 7b, since the BSS in which the AP31 is located and the BSS in which the AP11 is located are located in the same multi-BSSID set 1 (Same Multiple BSSID set 1), in other words, the AP11 and the AP31 are located in the same multi-BSSID set, the STA31 can perform communication based on TDLS as the second STA and the first STA.

As another example, in the scenario shown in fig. 7c, the first STA is one STA in a non-AP MLD (e.g., a first MLD) and the second STA is one STA in another non-AP MLD (e.g., a second MLD). The non-AP MLD where the first STA is located is the non-AP MLD1 in fig. 7c, and the first STA may be STA11 in fig. 7c, where the STA11 is associated with AP11 in the AP MLD. The non-AP MLD where the second STA is located is the non-AP MLD2 in fig. 7c, and the second STA may be the STA41 in fig. 7c, and the STA41 is associated with the AP11 in the AP MLD.

As can be seen from the scenario shown in fig. 7c, since the STA41 and the STA11 are respectively associated with the same BSS (i.e., the BSS in which the AP11 is located), the STA41 can perform communication based on TDLS as the second STA and the first STA.

As another example, in the scenario shown in fig. 7d, the first STA is one STA in a non-AP MLD (e.g., a first MLD) and the second STA is one STA in another non-AP MLD (e.g., a second MLD). The non-AP MLD where the first STA is located is the non-AP MLD1 in fig. 7d, and the first STA may be STA11 in fig. 7d, where the STA11 is associated with AP11 in the AP MLD. The non-AP MLD where the second STA is located is the non-AP MLD2 in fig. 7d, and the second STA may be the STA51 in fig. 7d, and the STA51 is associated with the AP51 in the AP MLD 2.

Wherein different APs in the same multi-BSSID set use the same communication parameters (e.g., operation set, channel number, antenna port, etc.), such that STAs associated with different APs in the same multi-BSSID set may also need to communicate based on TDLS. For this reason, in fig. 7d, since the BSS in which the AP11 is located and the BSS in which the AP51 is located are located in the same multi-BSSID set 1 (Same Multiple BSSID set 1), in other words, the AP11 and the AP51 are located in the same multi-BSSID set, the STA51 can perform communication based on TDLS as the second STA and the first STA.

In a second implementation manner, in the first radio frame generated in step S101, when the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element does not include the MAC address information of the first STA, the MAC address information of the first STA is located in another location of the first radio frame except for the multilink element, or the MAC address information of the first STA is not carried in the first radio frame.

Thus, for the sender of the first radio frame, flexible setting of whether the MAC address information of the first STA is included in the multilink element may be achieved based on the first field. Accordingly, for the receiver of the first radio frame, it is flexibly selected whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multilink element based on the first field.

For example, the communication procedure shown in fig. 5a may be a communication scenario between multiple link devices other than TDLS, where it is possible that the receiver of the first wireless frame does not need to know (or in other locations other than the multiple link element) the MAC address information of the first STA, for example, a transceiving scenario of an association request frame (or an association response frame), a transceiving scenario of a re-association request frame (or a re-association response frame), or other scenarios, which are not limited herein.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame may carry the MAC address information of the first STA in the MAC Header field during the transmission and reception of the first radio frame without being forwarded by the forwarding device. In the implementation of the frame format as shown in fig. 2b, the MAC address information of the first STA may be carried in the A2 field. The first field is used to indicate that the multilink element does not include MAC address information of the first STA, so that a receiver of the first radio frame can receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the MAC Header field. In addition, the first wireless frame does not need to carry the same information (namely the MAC address information of the first STA) as the information in the MAC Header field in the multilink element, so that the transmission of redundant data can be reduced to a certain extent, and the communication efficiency is improved.

In another possible implementation, the receiver of the first radio frame may need not know the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, the receiver of the first radio frame may only need part of the information in the multi-link element without knowing the MAC address information of the first STA. For example, the receiver of the first radio frame needs to know the "MLD MAC address" of the MLD where the first STA is located in the frame format of the multilink element shown in fig. 4, so that the receiver of the first radio frame does not need to know the MAC address information of the first STA when communicating with the MLD. As another example, the receiver of the first radio frame needs to learn the "profile 307 of each STA x" of the other STAs of the MLD where the first STA is in the frame format of the multi-link element shown in fig. 4, so as to implement communication with the other STAs in the MLD, and the receiver of the first radio frame does not need to learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

Optionally, the first radio frame further includes a target field, where the first field is used to indicate that the multi-link element does not include MAC address information of the first STA, the target field includes MAC address information of the first STA; wherein the target field is different from the multilink element.

Optionally, in the foregoing example shown in fig. 2b, other information located before the "Frame Body" (e.g. "Frame Control (Frame Control), duration (Duration), address 1 (Address 1), address 2 (Address 2), address 3 (Address 3), sequence Control (Sequence Control), address 4 (Address 4), quality of service Control (quality of service contr, qoS Control), high throughput Control (high throughput contr, HT Control)") may be referred to as a MAC Header (field).

Optionally, when the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element does not include the MAC address information of the first STA, the communication process corresponding to the implementation shown in fig. 5a may be an association process, a re-association process, a probing process, or the like of the multilink device.

By way of example, implementation two will be described in an exemplary manner below with reference to fig. 7a to 7d for the communication scenario involved in fig. 5 a.

Note that, in the scenarios shown in fig. 7a to 7d, a double straight line between an AP and an STA indicates that the AP is associated with the STA (or the STA is associated with the AP). In addition, since the second implementation mode relates to the communication process of the first radio frame including the multi-link element, generally, the sender of the first radio frame (for example, the first STA) is specifically a certain STA in the non-AP MLD, and the receiver of the first radio frame (for example, the second STA) is specifically a certain AP (or single link device) in the AP MLD; or, the sender of the first radio frame (for example, the first STA) is specifically one AP of the AP MLDs, and the receiver of the first radio frame (for example, the second STA) is specifically one STA (or a single link device) of one non-AP MLD; alternatively, the sender of the first radio frame (e.g., the first STA) is specifically one STA in the non-AP MLD, and the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) is specifically one STA (or a single link device) in the other non-AP MLD; alternatively, the sender of the first radio frame (e.g., the first STA) is specifically one of the APs MLD, and the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) is specifically one of the APs (or single link devices) in the other AP MLD. In the following examples, only a specific STA of the non-AP MLD is described as an example of the sender of the first radio frame (e.g., the first STA), and a specific AP of the one AP MLD is described as the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA).

For example, in the scenario shown in fig. 7a, the method of implementation two may be applied to a communication process between any STA in the non-AP MLD1 and any AP in the AP MLD, i.e., the first STA may be any STA in the non-AP MLD1, and the second STA may be any AP in the AP MLD.

As another example, in the scenario shown in fig. 7b, the method of implementation two may be applied to a communication process between any STA in the non-AP MLD1 and any AP in the AP MLD, i.e., the first STA may be any STA in the non-AP MLD1, and the second STA may be any AP in the AP MLD.

As another example, in the scenario shown in fig. 7c, the method of implementation two may be applied to a communication process between any STA in the non-AP MLD1 (or the non-AP MLD 2) and any AP in the AP MLD, that is, the first STA may be any STA in the non-AP MLD1 (or the non-AP MLD 2), and the second STA may be any AP in the AP MLD.

As another example, in the scenario shown in fig. 7d, the method of implementation two may be applied to a communication process between any STA in the non-AP MLD1 and any AP in the AP MLD1, i.e., the first STA may be any STA in the non-AP MLD1 (or the non-AP MLD 2), and the second STA may be any AP in the AP MLD.

As another example, in the scenario shown in fig. 7d, the method of implementation two may be applied to a communication process between any STA in the non-AP MLD2 and any AP in the AP MLD2, i.e., the first STA may be any STA in the non-AP MLD2, and the second STA may be any AP in the AP MLD 2.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame carries a multi-link element for indicating the site information of the MLD where the first STA is located, where the multi-link element includes a first field for indicating whether the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) may determine, based on the first field, that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the multi-link element. Accordingly, by setting the first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA in the first radio frame, the indication of the address information of the sender is more flexible, so that it is possible to adapt to various communication scenarios. Accordingly, the receiver of the first wireless frame flexibly selects whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element based on the first field in the first wireless frame, and can accurately learn the MAC address information of the first STA when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA.

Referring to fig. 6a, a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application is provided, and the method includes the following steps.

S201, a first STA transmits a first radio frame.

In this embodiment, the first STA transmits the first radio frame in step S201, and the second STA receives the first radio frame in step S201. Wherein the first radio frame includes a MAC address of the first STA and a multilink element.

Optionally, the MAC address of the first STA is carried in a multilink element; alternatively, the MAC address of the first STA is carried in another information element in the first radio frame than the multilink element.

S202, the second STA transmits a second radio frame.

In this embodiment, the second STA transmits the second radio frame in step S202, and correspondingly, the first STA receives the second radio frame in step S202.

Based on the technical scheme shown in fig. 6a, in the WLAN communication process, the first STA carries, in the first radio frame sent in step S201, a multi-link element for indicating the station information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, where the first multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein the receiving side (e.g., the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the multilink element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the multilink element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

Optionally, after knowing the MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the first radio frame may determine that the sender of the first radio frame is the first STA based on the MAC address information of the first STA, where the receiver of the first radio frame is in a radio frame sent by another device (i.e. other than the first STA) for communication, and the relevant information carried by the receiver of the first radio frame in the radio frame may be used to indicate the relevant characteristics of the first STA. For example, the related information may include an "MLD MAC address" of an MLD where the first STA is located in the frame format of the multi-link element shown in fig. 4, so as to indicate to another device that the first STA is located in the MLD. As another example, the related information may include "a profile 307 of each STA x" of the other STAs of the MLD where the first STA is located in the frame format of the multi-link element shown in fig. 4, so as to indicate to another device the other STAs of the MLD where the first STA is located.

If the multi-link communication scenario is not involved, that is, when a certain STA is a single-link device, the STA may set the value of the field "site address of TDLS initiator" shown in fig. 2a as the MAC address information of the STA when sending a radio frame, so as to indicate that the STA is a TDLS initiator in the TDLS communication process.

If a multi-link communication scenario is involved, that is, when a certain STA is a certain STA in a multi-link device, the STA may be used as a sender to perform a communication procedure shown in fig. 6a, that is, a first radio frame sent by the STA (i.e., a first STA) carries a multi-link element for indicating multi-link information of an MLD where the STA is located.

In step S201, the first radio frame sent by the first STA is taken as an example of a TDLS discovery request frame transmitted in the TDLS communication process. In the first radio frame, the field of the link identification information element TDLS initiator STA Address may be valued as the MLD MAC address of the first MLD. The setting is to make the value of SA of the data frame forwarded by the AP to the second STA consistent with the MLD MAC address of the first MLD, so that the second STA can obtain the consistent address of the initiator according to SA or TDLS initiator STA Address when receiving the forwarded data frame, thereby avoiding confusion.

Thereafter, since the TDLS discovery request frame is forwarded by the AP, it is carried in another data frame (denoted as a second data frame) that is transmitted (the frame format of the second data frame may be shown with reference to fig. 8 a). In the second data frame, address 1 of the second data frame is the MAC Address of the second STA, address 2 is the MAC Address of the AP (note: this Address may be different from the MAC Address of the AP in the first data frame because it may be forwarded on another link), and Address 3 is the MLD MAC Address of the first MLD. The second STA cannot learn the MAC address of the first STA when receiving the second data frame, and thus cannot obtain the address information of the first STA in the TDLS discovery process.

For this purpose, in this scenario, the first STA may carry a first field in the multi-link element in the first radio frame, where the first field is used to indicate that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, so that the second STA determines, based on the first field, that the multi-link element in the first radio frame carries the MAC address information of the first STA. So that the second STA may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the indication of the first field when the second STA needs to acquire the MAC address information of the first STA.

In some possible implementations, the second STA may also communicate with the first STA based on TDLS based on the MAC address information of the first STA after learning the MAC address information of the first STA.

Specifically, the communication procedure of step S201 and step S202 in fig. 6a may be applied to the communication procedure of TDLS. In general, as can be seen from the foregoing description of TDLS implementation procedures, the purpose of TDLS communication procedures is to establish communication links between different STAs (located in the same BSS). The first STA is specifically one STA in a non-AP MLD (for example, a first MLD), and the second STA may be a single link device or one STA in another non-AP MLD (for example, a second MLD).

For example, the scenario shown in fig. 6a may be applied to the scenario shown in fig. 7a to 7d, where the association relationship between the first STA and the second STA may refer to the implementation procedure of "implementation one" shown in fig. 5 a.

In a possible implementation manner, if the second STA is a certain STA in the MLD, since the multilink element in the first radio frame is used to indicate the multilink element of the link information in the first MLD where the first STA is located, after the second STA receives the first radio frame from the first STA in step S201, the second MLD where the second STA is located may determine the relevant link information based on the first radio frame, so as to implement communication between the first MLD and the second MLD based on TDLS.

Specifically, if an STA located on the same link exists in the first MLD where the first STA is located, the second STA may perform communication based on TDLS between the first radio frame and the STA. In addition, other STAs in the second MLD where the second STA is located may also communicate with the first MLD based on TDLS. For convenience of description, other STAs except the second STA in the second MLD where the second STA is located may be denoted as target STAs, and if there is an STA (denoted as an associated STA) located on the same link with the target STA in the first MLD, the target STA may determine link information of the associated STA in various manners, so as to implement TDLS-based communication between the target STA and the associated STA. The information interaction process between the plurality of STAs (including the second STA and the target STA) included in the second MLD may refer to the description of the scenario shown in fig. 1.

In a possible implementation, the second STA (processor in) determines the link information of the associated STA based on the multilink element in the first radio frame, and transmits the link information of the associated STA to the target STA.

In another possible implementation, after the second STA receives the first radio frame, the second STA sends the first radio frame (or the multilink element in the first radio frame) to the target STA, so that the (processor in the) target STA determines the link information of the associated STA based on the first radio frame (or the multilink element in the first radio frame).

In another possible implementation, after the second STA receives the first radio frame, the second MLD (common processor in the second STA) determines link information of the associated STA based on the first radio frame, and sends the link information of the associated STA to the target STA.

In the scheme shown in fig. 6a, in the step S201, the first STA transmits the first radio frame, and the MAC address of the first STA may be located in a different location in the first radio frame, for example, the MAC address of the first STA is located in the multilink element; alternatively, the MAC address of the first STA is located in another information element in the first radio frame than the multilink element.

The following description will be made by way of various implementations.

In one implementation, the MAC address of the first STA is located in the multilink element of the first radio frame.

In one possible implementation, the first multilink element includes a common information field in which the MAC address information of the first STA is located. Specifically, the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the common information field of the first multilink element included in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame may determine the MAC address information of the first STA based on the common information field in step S202.

In one possible implementation, the first multilink element includes a first field for indicating whether the first multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA.

Optionally, the first value is different from the second value.

In one possible implementation, the first field is located in an appearance bitmap field in the first multilink element. Specifically, the first field is located in an appearance bitmap field of a multilink element included in the first wireless frame, such that a receiver of the first wireless frame can determine the first field based on the appearance bitmap field.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame further includes a first information element including address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, where the address information of the initiator is a MAC address of a first MLD where the first STA is located. Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the first radio frame sent by the first STA may further include a first information element, where the first information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the initiator is the MAC address of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and is used to indicate that the TDLS initiator is the first MLD where the first STA is located.

Optionally, the first information element is a link identification information element (Link Identifier element). The frame format of the link identification information element may refer to the implementation procedure shown in fig. 2 a.

In one possible implementation, in the first radio frame, the address information of the responder is MAC address information of the second STA or MAC address information of a second MLD where the second STA is located. Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, and when the TDLS responder is a multi-link device, the address information of the responder in the first information element may be MAC address information of a second MLD where the second STA is located; when the TDLS responder is a single link device, the address information of the responder in the first information element may be MAC address information of the second STA. So that the scheme can be applied to a variety of different scenarios.

In one possible implementation, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, and the implementation of the second radio frame may also be similar to the implementation of the first radio frame. The second radio frame includes a second multilink element corresponding to a second MLD where the second STA is located, where the second multilink element includes a MAC address of the second STA. Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission process, where when the receiving side of the first radio frame is a multi-link device, the second radio frame is used as a response frame of the first radio frame, and the second radio frame may also include a second multi-link element corresponding to a second MLD where the second STA is located, where the second multi-link element includes a MAC address of the second STA. Such that a receiver of the second radio frame (e.g., the first STA) may determine MAC address information of the second STA based on the second multilink element, the receiver of a subsequent second radio frame communicating with the second STA based on the MAC address information of the second STA.

Optionally, the second multilink element includes a common information field in which the MAC address information of the second STA is located. Specifically, the MAC address information of the second STA is located in a common information field of a second multilink element included in the second radio frame, so that a receiver of the second radio frame may determine the MAC address information of the second STA based on the common information field.

Optionally, the second multi-link element includes a second field for indicating whether the second multi-link element includes MAC address information of the second STA.

Optionally, the first value is different from the second value.

Illustratively, the second field may be implemented by one bit or a plurality of bits, and a one-bit implementation procedure is described herein as an example, that is, the value corresponding to the second field may be "1" or "0".

For example, when the first value is "1" and the second value is "0", the second field indicates that the second multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the second STA through the first value (i.e., the value is "1"), and the second field indicates that the second multi-link element does not include the MAC address information of the second STA through the second value (i.e., the value is "0").

For another example, when the first value is "0" and the second value is "1", the second field indicates that the second multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the second STA through the first value (i.e., the value is "0"), and the second field indicates that the second multi-link element does not include the MAC address information of the second STA through the second value (i.e., the value is "1").

In a first possible implementation, the second field is located in an appearance bitmap field in the multilink element. Specifically, the second field is located in an appearance bitmap field of a second multilink element included in the second radio frame, such that a receiver of the second radio frame can determine the second field based on the appearance bitmap field.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame further includes a second information element including address information of the initiator and address information of the responder. Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the second radio frame sent by the second STA may further include a second information element, where the second information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder).

Optionally, the second information element is a link identification information element (Link Identifier element). The frame format of the link identification information element may refer to the implementation procedure shown in fig. 2 a.

In one possible implementation, in the second information element, the address information of the initiator is any one of the following:

Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, and the second radio frame sent by the second STA may further include a second information element. The second STA may indicate address information of the initiator in the second information element through various implementations as described above.

Here, the scenario shown in fig. 7c is taken as an example, where when the first STA is STA11, the second STA may be STA41 or STA42.

For example, when the second STA is the STA41, since the STA11 and the STA41 are located on the same link (or the STA11 and the STA41 are referred to as being associated with the same AP, i.e., the AP 11), in the link identification information element in the second radio frame transmitted by the STA41 as the second STA, the address information of the initiator may be set to the MAC address of the first STA, i.e., the MAC address information of the STA11 (or the address information of the initiator may be set to the MAC address of the first MLD where the first STA is located, i.e., the MAC address information of the non-AP MLD 1). Since the STA41 receives the multi-link element from the first radio frame, the non-AP MLD2 where the STA41 is located can determine the link information of the non-AP MLD1 where the STA11 is located through the multi-link element, so that multiple STAs (i.e., STA41 and STA11, and STA42 and STA 12) located in different non-AP MLDs in the link where the AP11 is located can communicate based on TDLS.

For another example, when the second STA is the STA42, since the STA22 and the STA42 are located on the same link (or the STA22 and the STA42 are related to the same AP, i.e. the AP 12), in the link identification information element in the second radio frame sent by the STA42 as the second STA, the address information of the initiator may be set to the MAC address of the third STA, i.e. the MAC address information of the STA12 (or the address information of the initiator may be set to the MAC address of the first MLD where the first STA is located, i.e. the MAC address information of the non-AP MLD 1). Since the STA42 receives the multi-link element from the first radio frame, the non-AP MLD2 where the STA42 is located can determine the link information of the non-AP MLD1 where the STA12 is located through the multi-link element, so that the multiple STAs (i.e. STA42 and STA12, and STA41 and STA 11) located in different non-AP MLDs in the link where the AP11 is located can communicate based on TDLS.

In one possible implementation, in the second information element, the address information of the responder is any one of the following:

the MAC address of the second MLD where the second STA is located.

Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, and the second radio frame sent by the second STA may further include a second information element. The second STA may indicate address information of the respondent in the second information element through various implementations described above.

Based on the technical scheme of the first implementation manner, in the transmission process of WLAN communication applied to TDLS, a first radio frame carries a multi-link element for indicating site information of a first MLD where a first STA is located, where the first multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein the receiving side (e.g., the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the multilink element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the multilink element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

In implementation two, the MAC address of the first STA is located in another information element of the first radio frame that is different from the multilink element.

In one possible implementation, the first information element is a link identification information element (Link Identifier element), where the link identification information element includes address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, the address information of the initiator is MAC address information of the first STA (or expressed as that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the link identification information element), and the address information of the responder is address information of a second STA or address information of an MLD in which the second STA is located.

Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the first information element included in the first radio frame sent by the first STA is a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the initiator is the MAC address of the first STA, so as to indicate that the TDLS initiator is the first STA.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame further includes a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, where the address information of the initiator is MAC address information of a first MLD where the first STA is located, and the address information of the responder is address information of a second STA or address information of an MLD where the second STA is located.

Optionally, the first information element is different from the multilink element and the first information element is different from the link identification information element. In other words, the first information element is a different information element than the link identification information element and than the multilink element.

Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the first wireless frame transmitted by the first STA includes a link identification information element in addition to the first information element and the multilink element. Wherein the link identification information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the initiator is the MAC address of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and is used to indicate that the TDLS initiator is the first MLD where the first STA is located.

Alternatively, the frame format of the link identification information element may refer to the implementation procedure shown in fig. 2a described above.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame includes a second information element including MAC address information of the second station STA and a second multilink element.

Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission process, where when the receiving side of the first radio frame is a multi-link device, the second radio frame is used as a response frame of the first radio frame, and the second radio frame may also include a second multi-link element corresponding to a second MLD where the second STA is located and a second information element, where the second information element includes a MAC address of the second STA. Such that a receiver of the second radio frame (e.g., the first STA) may determine MAC address information of the second STA based on the second information element, and a receiver of a subsequent second radio frame communicates with the second STA based on the MAC address information of the second STA.

In one possible implementation, the second information element is a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, the address information of the initiator is MAC address information of the second STA (or expressed as that the MAC address information of the second STA is located in the link identification information element), and the address information of the responder is address information of the second STA or address information of an MLD where the second STA is located.

Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the second information element included in the second radio frame sent by the second STA is a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the responder is the MAC address of the second STA, so as to indicate that the TDLS responder is the second STA.

Optionally, the second information element is different from the multilink element and the first information element is different from the link identification information element. In other words, the second information element is a different information element than the link identification information element and than the multilink element.

Specifically, the scheme may be applied to a TDLS-based transmission procedure, where the second radio frame transmitted by the second STA includes a link identification information element in addition to the second information element and the multilink element. Wherein the link identification information element includes at least address information for indicating an initiator of a TDLS initiator (TDLS initiator) and address information for indicating a responder of a TDLS responder (TDLS responder). The address information of the initiator is MAC address information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and is used to indicate that the TDLS initiator is the first MLD where the first STA is located.

Based on the technical scheme shown in the second implementation manner, in the transmission process of WLAN communication applied to TDLS, a first radio frame carries a multilink element for indicating site information of a first MLD where a first STA is located, and a first information element different from the first multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, the receiving side (for example, the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the first information element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the first information element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, the communication procedure involved in fig. 5a and 6a may be a TDLS communication procedure. While the first radio frame and the second radio frame of the communication procedure of fig. 5a, 6a are various in the implementation of the TDLS communication procedure. For example, in the TDLS discovery process, the first radio frame is a TDLS discovery request frame and the second radio frame is a TDLS discovery response frame. For another example, in the process corresponding to the TDLS setup request and the response, the first radio frame is a TDLS setup request frame and the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame. For another example, in the TDLS acknowledgement process, the first radio frame is a TDLS setup acknowledgement frame and the second radio frame is a first acknowledgement frame. In another example, in the TDLS data transmission process, the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame and the second radio frame is a second acknowledgement frame.

In a different implementation, the first STA may send and receive the first radio frame and the second radio frame over a communication link with the second STA; the first STA may also transmit and receive the first radio frame and the second radio frame over a communication link between APs associated with the first STA. Accordingly, there may be a plurality of different implementations of the first radio frame and the second radio frame over different communication links. The following will describe each.

In a first possible implementation, the first radio frame includes a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame; the first STA transmitting the first radio frame (in step S102 shown in fig. 5a or step S201 shown in fig. 6 a) includes: the first STA sending the first radio frame to a first access point AP associated with the first STA, the first radio frame further comprising an address one (address 1, a 1) field, an address two (address 2, a 2) field, and an address three (address 3, a 3) field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the first AP, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first STA, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the responder.

In particular, the method shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6a may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS discovery procedure, a TDLS setup procedure, etc., where the first radio frame specifically includes (or carries) a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame. Wherein the first STA may send the first radio frame to a first AP with which the first STA is associated. The first radio frame also includes an A1 field for indicating an address (RA) of a receiver of the first radio frame, an A2 field for indicating an address (transmitter address, TA) of a sender of the first radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating a destination address (destination address, DA) of the first radio frame.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame; the first STA transmitting the first radio frame (in step S102 shown in fig. 5a or step S201 shown in fig. 6 a) includes: the first STA sending the first radio frame to the second STA, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the responder, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

Specifically, the method shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6a may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS data transmission procedure, i.e. the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame. The first STA may specifically send the first wireless frame to the second STA. The first radio frame also includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the first radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the first radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the first radio frame.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame; the first STA receiving the second radio frame (in step S103 shown in fig. 5a or step S202 shown in fig. 6 a) includes: the first STA receives the second radio frame from a first AP with which the first STA is associated, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the first STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first AP, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the responder.

In particular, the method shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6a may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS setup procedure, etc., and the second radio frame is specifically a TDLS setup response frame. Wherein the first STA may receive the second wireless frame from the first AP with which the first STA is associated. The second radio frame further includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the second radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the second radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the second radio frame.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame includes a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame; the first STA receiving the second radio frame (in step S103 shown in fig. 5a or step S202 shown in fig. 6 a) includes: the first STA receives the second radio frame from the second STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the initiator, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

In particular, the method shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6a may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS discovery procedure, a TDLS setup procedure, a TDLS data transmission procedure, etc., and the second radio frame specifically includes (or is expressed as carrying) a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame. Wherein the first STA may receive the second radio frame from the second STA. The second radio frame further includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the second radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the second radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the second radio frame.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame includes a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame; the second STA receiving the first wireless frame (in step S102 shown in fig. 5a or step S201 shown in fig. 6 a) includes: the second STA receiving the first radio frame from a second AP with which the second STA is associated, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second AP, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the initiator.

In particular, the method shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6a may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS discovery procedure, a TDLS setup procedure, etc., where the first radio frame specifically includes (or is expressed as carrying) a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame. Wherein the second STA may receive the first wireless frame from a second AP with which the second STA is associated. The first radio frame also includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the first radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the first radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the first radio frame.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame; the second STA receiving the first wireless frame includes: the second STA receives the first radio frame (in step S102 shown in fig. 5a or step S201 shown in fig. 6 a) from the first STA, the first radio frame further including an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the initiator, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

Specifically, the method shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6a may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS data transmission procedure, i.e. the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame. The second STA may specifically receive the first wireless frame sent from the first STA. The first radio frame also includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the first radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the first radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the first radio frame.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame; the second STA transmitting the second radio frame (in step S103 shown in fig. 5a or step S202 shown in fig. 6 a) includes: the first STA sends the second wireless frame to a second AP associated with the second STA, wherein the second wireless frame comprises an A1 field, an A2 field and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second AP, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the initiator.

In particular, the method shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6a may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS setup procedure, etc., and the second radio frame is specifically a TDLS setup response frame. The second STA may specifically send the second radio frame to a second AP associated with the second STA. The second radio frame further includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the second radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the second radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the second radio frame.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame includes a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame; the second STA transmitting the second radio frame (in step S103 shown in fig. 5a or step S202 shown in fig. 6 a) includes: the second STA sending the second radio frame to the first STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the initiator, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

In particular, the method shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6a may be applied to various transmission procedures of TDLS, such as a TDLS discovery procedure, a TDLS setup procedure, a TDLS data transmission procedure, etc., and the second radio frame specifically includes (or is expressed as carrying) a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame. The second STA may specifically send the second radio frame to a second STA associated with the second STA. The second radio frame further includes an A1 field for indicating RA of the second radio frame, an A2 field for indicating TA of the second radio frame, and an A3 field for indicating DA of the second radio frame.

In one possible implementation, the responder is the second STA or a second MLD where the second STA is located. Specifically, in various transmission procedures applied to the TDLS, the responder indicated by the address information of the responder included in the first radio frame (or the second radio frame) may be the second STA or the second MLD where the second STA is located. In other words, the responder in the TDLS communication link may be the second STA or a second MLD where the second STA is located.

In one possible implementation, the initiator is the first STA or a first MLD where the first STA is located. Specifically, in various transmission procedures applied to the TDLS, the initiator indicated by the address information of the initiator included in the first radio frame (or the second radio frame) may be the first STA or the first MLD where the first STA is located. In other words, the responder in the TDLS communication link may be the first STA or the first MLD where the first STA is located.

The TDLS communication procedure referred to in fig. 5a and 6a will be described by way of an implementation example shown in fig. 6 b.

Referring to fig. 6b, another embodiment of the communication method provided in the present application is shown.

In one implementation, when the TDLS communication procedure referred to in fig. 5a and 6a is a TDLS discovery procedure, the communication procedure may be represented as step S301 and step S302 shown in fig. 6 b. The method specifically comprises the following implementation process.

S301, an initiator sends a TDLS discovery request frame, and correspondingly, a responder receives the TDLS discovery request frame in step S301. The TDLS discovery request frame is the first radio frame in the TDLS communication process described in fig. 5a and 6 a.

S302, the responder sends a TDLS discovery response frame, and correspondingly, the initiator receives the TDLS discovery response frame in the step S302. The TDLS discovery response frame is the second radio frame in the TDLS communication process related to fig. 5a and fig. 6 a.

Specifically, since the TDLS discovery process is a process in which an initiator determines responder related information (including capability information and supported related functions), and the MLD contains site information of a plurality of links, the TDLS discovery process of the MLD needs to complete information discovery of sites of a plurality of links between the MLDs.

For example, a TDLS discovery request frame carrying MLD information may be sent by a first STA on a first link, which will carry a multi-link element carrying information of a second STA on a second link. Wherein, the second link may have one or more, and the corresponding second STA may have one or more. Taking fig. 7c as an implementation example, the communication link associated with STA11 and AP11 (and STA41 and AP 11) may be referred to as a first link, and the communication link associated with STA12 and AP12 (and STA42 and AP 12) may be referred to as a second link.

Here, since the TDLS discovery request frame is transmitted by the first STA, the first STA may be referred to as a transmitting station (transmitting STA) or a reporting station (reporting STA), and the corresponding first link may be referred to as a transmitting link (transmitting link) or a reporting link (reporting link).

The TDLS discovery process for MLD is as follows.

In step S301, the first STA, as an initiator, generates a TDLS discovery request frame, where the discovery request frame carries a multi-link element and a link identification element. Wherein the first STA is affiliated with (afocalized with) the first MLD, in other words, the first MLD is the initiator MLD (initiator MLD). In general, the MLE is information for carrying the first MLD (including information of links other than the first link in the first MLD), and the link identification element may be for identifying the initiator MLD and the responder MLD.

Illustratively, the TDLS discovery request frame includes fields as shown in table 3 below.

TABLE 3 Table 3

Sequence number (Order)	Information (Information)
		1	Category (Category)
2	TDLS Action (TDLS Action)
		3	Dialog Token (Dialog Token)
4	Link Identifier (Link Identifier)
		5	Multiband (optional)
6	Multilink (Multi-Link)

The TDLS discovery request frame is sent bearing in a certain data frame. Specifically, the first STA transmits the first data frame to the associated first AP, and then the first AP associated with the first STA transmits the second data frame to the second STA. The second STA is affiliated with the second MLD, and the second STA may operate on the same link as the first STA or may operate on a different link than the first STA (because the AP may select a different link to forward). The second MLD may be a responder MLD (responder MLD).

The frame structure of a data frame carrying a TDLS discovery request frame is illustrated in fig. 2b as described above. Comprising the following information:

Before the MLD TDLS discovery process, the initiator may obtain the MAC address of the responder through the ARP protocol or the proxy ARP protocol, and if the responder is an MLD, the initiator may obtain the MLD MAC address of the responder, thereby setting the destination address field (DA) of the first data frame to the MLD MAC address of the responder. And after receiving the first data frame, the AP forwards the first data frame. That is, a second data frame is generated and transmitted to the second STA. Since the initiator is also an MLD, the AP will set the source address field (SA) of the second data frame to the source's MLD MAC address.

Alternatively, in the TDLS discovery request frame, the frame structure of the link identification information element may refer to the implementation procedure shown in fig. 2a described above.

In the TDLS discovery request frame, the field of TDLS initiator STA Address of the link identification information element may have a value that is the MLD MAC address of the first MLD. The setting is to make the value of the SA of the second data frame consistent with the MLD MAC address of the first MLD, so that when the second STA receives the second data frame, whether according to the SA or according to TDLS initiator STA Address, the address of the consistent initiator can be obtained, and confusion is avoided.

Specifically, the TDLS discovery request frame is wrapped in a first data frame sent by the first STA to the AP associated with the first STA, where a frame format of the first data frame may be shown with reference to fig. 5 b. In comparison with fig. 2b, fig. 5b details the information contained in the "Frame Body". The TDLS discovery request Frame may be specifically carried in a "Frame Body" (as shown in fig. b), where the "Frame Body" includes the following information:

Thereafter, the TDLS discovery request frame is transmitted in the second data frame (the frame format of the second data frame may be shown with reference to 8 b) as it is forwarded by the AP. In the second data frame, address 1 of the second data frame is the MAC Address of the second STA, address 2 is the MAC Address of the AP (note: this Address may be different from the MAC Address of the AP in the first data frame because it may be forwarded on another link), and Address 3 is the MLD MAC Address of the first MLD. The second STA cannot learn the MAC address of the first STA when receiving the second data frame, and thus cannot obtain the complete information of the first MLD in the TDLS discovery process.

To solve this problem, when the first STA transmits the TDLS discovery request frame, the MAC address of the first STA may be carried in the first data frame carrying the TDLS discovery request frame. The MAC address of the first STA may be carried in the first data frame in various manners, for example, the MAC address of the first STA may be carried in a multilink element of the first data frame (as in the first implementation shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6 a), and, for example, the MAC address of the first STA may be carried in another information element of the first data frame different from the multilink element (as in the second implementation shown in fig. 6 a).

In one implementation, as in the first implementation shown in fig. 5a or fig. 6a, the MAC address of the first STA may be carried in the multilink element of the first data frame.

Specifically, the MAC address information of the first STA is carried in the multilink element. Specifically, it may be carried in the Common Info field of the multilink element, as shown in fig. 8 a.

Alternatively, the MAC address information of the first STA may be carried in the reporting station address information (Reporting STA Address) field in fig. 8a, and the name of this field may also be other names, such as the transmission station address information (transmitting STA Address), or other names, which are not limited herein.

In addition, the multilink element sometimes does not need to carry the Reporting STA Address field, so the Multi-Link Control may carry indication information (for example, the indication information is the first field of any of the foregoing embodiments) for indicating whether the Reporting STA Address field (the MAC address information of the first STA) exists.

For example, the indication information may be located in the Presence Bitmap field, as shown in fig. 8 b.

Alternatively, the indication information may be carried in the Presence Bitmap field in fig. 8b (Reporting STA MAC Address Present), where the name of the field may be another name, for example, the MAC address information of the transmission station (transmitting STA MAC Address Present), or another name, which is not limited herein.

Alternatively, the multilink element in the first data frame may be a Basic variant (Basic variable) multilink element. I.e., the value of the Type field in the Multi-Link Control field in the Multi-Link element is 0.

Alternatively, the multilink element may be a TDLS variant (TDLS variable) multilink element. I.e., the Type field in the Multi-Link Control field in the Multi-Link element has values other than 0 and 1.

In the above implementation, as the receiving side of the TDLS discovery request frame, after the responder receives the TDLS discovery request frame in step S301, the responder transmits a TDLS discovery response frame in step S302.

Alternatively, the responder may be a single link device, or may be another STA in the second MLD.

Alternatively, the responder may be a STA on a first link in the second MLD, the first link being determined from the BSSID field in the link identification information element in the TDLS discovery request frame.

Alternatively, when the second MLD does not operate on the first link, other STAs may also respond to the TDLS discovery response frame to the first STA.

Specifically, the Address 1 field of the frame of the TDLS discovery response frame sent by the responder has a value of the Address of the first STA in the TDLS discovery request frame. For example, the value of the Address 1 field is equal to the value of the Reporting STA MAC Address field in.

Illustratively, the TDLS discovery response frame is a management frame, i.e., the third STA may send the TDLS discovery response frame to the first STA without forwarding through the AP. In which, the frame structure of the TDLS discovery response frame is shown in fig. 8c, compared to the frame structure shown in fig. 2b, fig. 8c may omit part of information, for example, omit the following information:

address 4 (Address 4), quality of service Control (quality of service contr, qoS Control).

In another implementation, as in implementation two of fig. 6a, the MAC address of the first STA may be carried in other information elements of the first data frame than the multilink element.

For example, the MAC address information of the first STA is carried in a TDLS discovery request frame, where the TDLS discovery request frame shown in table 3 may be expressed as the following table 4.

TABLE 4 Table 4

Order	Information
		1	Category
2	TDLS Action
		3	Dialog Token
4	Link Identifier
		5	Multi-band (optional)
6	Reporting STA MAC Address
		7	Multi-Link

In the implementation shown in table 4, the MAC address of the first STA (e.g., denoted as Reporting STA MAC Address) is located in other information elements in the TDLS discovery request frame that are different from the Link identification information element (i.e., "Link Identifier") and different from the multilink element (i.e., "Multi-Link").

As another example, the MAC address of the first STA (e.g., denoted as Reporting STA MAC Address) is located in the link identification information element in the TDLS discovery request frame.

In addition, when a certain STA (denoted as STA 2) in the second MLD receives the TDLS discovery request frame, if the MLD MAC address of the MLD (second MLD) where the STA2 is located is found in the TDLS responder STA MAC Address field in the multilink identification information element, it is determined that the STA itself is the receiver of the TDLS discovery request frame, and it is necessary to reply to the TDLS discovery response frame.

Alternatively, the TDLS discovery response frame may be sent on the first link or on another link. The second MLD may determine which links are supported by the first MLD and the MAC address of the STA on the corresponding link according to the multi-link element in the TDLS discovery request frame, thereby determining how the A1 field is set when replying to the TDLS discovery response frame. It needs to be set to the MAC address of the STA on the corresponding link in MLD 1.

Illustratively, the TDLS discovery response frame also needs to contain a multi-link element and a link identification information element.

Alternatively, if the responder replies TDLS discovery response in step S302 based on a link other than the first link, the TDLS initiator STA MAC Address field in the link identification information element is set to the MAC address of the new link or to the MLD MAC address. Alternatively to this, the method may comprise,

Optionally, a TDLS responder STA MAC Address field of the link identification information element is set to the MLD MAC address.

Thereafter, in step S302, the first MLD sees that the value of the TDLS responder STA MAC Address field in the LIE in the TDLS discovery response frame is the same as the value of the TDLS responder STA MAC Address field in the LIE in the transmitted TDLS discovery request frame, and determines that the TDLS response frame needs to be received. Note that due to the cross-link reply TDLS discovery response, the BSSID in the link identification information element may change, causing TDLS initiator STA MAC Address to change as well, becoming the address of the station on the new link.

In another implementation, when the TDLS communication procedure referred to in fig. 5a and 6a is a procedure in which a TDLS setup request corresponds to a response, the communication procedure may be represented as step S303 and step S304 shown in fig. 6 b. The method specifically comprises the following implementation process.

S303, the initiator sends a TDLS establishment request frame, and correspondingly, the responder receives the TDLS establishment request frame in the step S303. The TDLS establishment request frame is the first radio frame in the TDLS communication process described in fig. 5a and 6 a.

S304, the responder sends a TDLS establishment response frame, and correspondingly, the initiator receives the TDLS establishment response frame in the step S304. The TDLS setup response frame is the second radio frame in the TDLS communication process related to fig. 5a and fig. 6 a.

Optionally, similar to the process of receiving and sending the TDLS discovery request frame in step S301, since the TDLS setup request frame and the setup confirm frame may be received by the opposite end on other links after being forwarded by the AP, the TDLS setup request frame and the setup confirm frame need to carry the multilink element and the link identification information element.

In a possible implementation, the initiator needs to carry the multilink element and the link identification information element in the TDLS setup request frame sent in step S303. The TDLS initiator STA MAC Address field (i.e., address information of the initiator) in the link identifier information element may be the MAC address of the transmitting station, the BSSID is the BSSID corresponding to the transmitting link, and the TDLS responder STA MAC Address (i.e., address information of the responder) may be the MAC address of the STA on the corresponding link in the MLD where the responder is located, or may be the MLD MAC address of the MLD where the responder is located.

In addition, in the process that the MLD where the responder is located receives the TDLS setup request frame in step S303, if TDLS responder STA MAC Address in the link identification information element is found to be the MAC address of the STA on any link in the MLD where the responder is located, or the MLD MAC address of the MLD2, the TDLS setup response frame is replied.

In a possible implementation, the responder needs to carry the multilink element and the link identification information element in the TDLS setup response frame sent in step S304. Wherein TDLS initiator STA MAC Address (i.e., address information of the initiator) in the link identification information element is set to the MLD MAC Address of the MLD where the initiator is located, TDLS responder STA MAC Address (i.e., address information of the responder) is set to the MAC Address of the STA transmitting the frame in the MLD where the responder is located, and the BSSID is set to the BSSID of the link transmitting the frame.

In addition, after receiving the TDLS setup response frame, the MLD where the initiator is located determines that the TDLS response frame needs to be received if the TDLS initiator STA MAC Address field in the link identifier information element is found to be the MLD MAC address of MLD 1.

In another implementation, when the TDLS communication procedure referred to in fig. 5a and 6a is a procedure corresponding to TDLS setup confirm, the communication procedure may be represented as step S305 and step S306 shown in fig. 6 b. The method specifically comprises the following implementation process.

S305, the initiator sends a TDLS confirmation frame, and correspondingly, the responder receives the TDLS confirmation frame in step S305.

The TDLS acknowledgement frame is the first radio frame in the TDLS communication process in fig. 5a and 6 a.

S306, the responder sends a first confirmation frame, and correspondingly, the initiator receives the first confirmation frame in step S306. Wherein the first acknowledgement frame is a response frame of the TDLS acknowledgement frame.

The first acknowledgement frame is the second radio frame in the TDLS communication process in fig. 5a and 6 a.

Alternatively, the first acknowledgement frame (or the second acknowledgement frame) may be an Acknowledgement (ACK) frame.

In another implementation, when the TDLS communication procedure referred to in fig. 5a and 6a is a procedure of TDLS data transmission, the communication procedure may be represented as step S307 and step S308 shown in fig. 6 b. The method specifically comprises the following implementation process.

S307, the initiator transmits the TDLS data frame, and correspondingly, the responder receives the TDLS data frame in step S307.

The TDLS data frame is the first radio frame in the TDLS communication process in fig. 5a and 6 a.

S308, the responder sends a second acknowledgement frame, and correspondingly, the initiator receives the second acknowledgement frame in step S308. Wherein the second acknowledgement frame is a response frame of the TDLS data frame.

The second acknowledgement frame is the second radio frame in the TDLS communication process in fig. 5a and 6 a.

Alternatively, the second acknowledgement frame may be a Block ACK (BA) frame or an Acknowledgement (ACK) frame.

Specifically, the implementation procedures of step S303 to step S308 may refer to the implementation procedures of step S301 and step S302, which are not described herein.

Optionally, any radio frame of the TDLS setup request frame transmitted in step S303, the TDLS setup response frame transmitted in step S304, and the TDLS setup confirm frame transmitted in step S305 may further carry TPK Handshake Message, where the TPK Handshake Message is configured to carry parameters required for generating the TPK, and the parameters include at least one of the first BSSID, the second BSSID, and Transmitted BSSID.

Alternatively, the TPK satisfies:

TPK＝KDF-Hash-Length(A)

wherein, parameter a satisfies:

(TPK-Key-Input,"TDLS PMK",min(MAC_I,MAC_R)||max(MAC_I,MAC_R)||BSSID)；

wherein TPK-Key-input=hash (min (SNonce, ANonce) ||max (SNonce, ANonce));

furthermore, the relevant parameters satisfy:

"ANonce" is the authenticator's random number and "SNonce" is the supplicant's random number, both contained in the FTE information element; "mac_i" represents MAC address information of an initiator; "mac_r" represents MAC address information of the responder; "BSSID" means the BSSID (or MLD MAC address of AP MLD) corresponding to the initiator;

"KDF-Hash-Length" means a key generation function, see standard documents 802.11-2020 for details.

"min (mac_i, mac_r)" means taking the minimum value of mac_i and mac_r;

"max (maci, macr)" means taking the maximum value of maci and macr;

"min (SNonce, ANonce)" means taking the minimum of SNonce and ANonce;

"max (SNonce, ANonce)" means taking the minimum value of SNonce and ANonce;

"Hash (min (ANonce) ||max (SNonce) |and ANonce)" represents a Hash algorithm in the authentication and key management suite.

"" TDLS PMK "" means that the purpose of the KDF operation is to generate TDLS PMK.

"|" means "or".

Optionally, in step S307 and step S308, after the TDLS direct link establishment is completed, data transmission may be performed between the initiator and the responder. When an initiator or a responder transmits a data frame, an A1 field of the data frame can be set as the MLD MAC address of the counterpart, and an A2 field can be set as the MLD MAC address of the responder.

Optionally, if the responder receives the data frame and finds that the value of the A1 field of the data frame is the value of the MLD MAC address of the responder, the responder continues to receive the data frame.

The present application is described above in terms of a method, and is further described below in terms of a device.

Referring to fig. 9, a communication apparatus 900 provided in the present application may be, for example, a sender or a receiver in the communication method (and any possible implementation manner thereof) related to fig. 5 a.

As shown in fig. 9, the communication apparatus 900 includes a processing unit 901 and a transmitting/receiving unit 902.

When the communication apparatus 900 is used to perform the communication process related to the aforementioned sender, the processing unit 901 and the transceiving unit 902 are specifically used to perform the following process.

The processing unit 901 is configured to generate a first radio frame, where the first radio frame includes a multilink element, and the multilink element includes a first field, where the first field is configured to indicate whether the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA;

the transceiver unit 902 is configured to transmit the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame sent by the sending unit 901 carries a multi-link element for indicating the site information of the MLD where the first STA is located, where the multi-link element includes a first field for indicating whether the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) may determine, based on the first field, that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the multi-link element. Accordingly, by setting the first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA in the first radio frame, the indication of the address information of the sender is more flexible, so that it is possible to adapt to various communication scenarios. Accordingly, the receiver of the first wireless frame flexibly selects whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element based on the first field in the first wireless frame, and can accurately learn the MAC address information of the first STA when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA.

When the communication apparatus 900 is used to perform the communication process related to the aforementioned receiving party, the processing unit 901 and the transceiving unit 902 are specifically used to perform the following process.

The transceiver unit 902 is configured to receive a first radio frame from a first STA, the first radio frame including a multi-link element, the multi-link element including a first field, the first field being configured to indicate whether the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA;

the processing unit 901 is configured to determine whether to receive MAC address information of the first STA in a multilink element based on the first field.

Based on the above technical solution, in the WLAN communication process, the first radio frame received by the receiving unit 902 carries a multi-link element for indicating the station information of the MLD where the first STA is located, where the multi-link element includes a first field for indicating whether the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the receiver of the first radio frame (e.g., the second STA) may determine, based on the first field, that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the multi-link element. Accordingly, by setting the first field for indicating whether the multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA in the first radio frame, the indication of the address information of the sender is more flexible, so that it is possible to adapt to various communication scenarios. Accordingly, the receiver of the first wireless frame flexibly selects whether to receive the MAC address information of the first STA in the multi-link element based on the first field in the first wireless frame, and can accurately learn the MAC address information of the first STA when the first field indicates that the multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA.

When the communication device 900 is used to perform the communication procedure related to the aforementioned sender (or receiver), the communication device 900 may also perform possible implementations as follows.

In one possible implementation, the first field is located in a Presence Bitmap (Presence Bitmap) field in the multilink element.

Optionally, the first value is different from the second value.

In one possible implementation, when the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA, the multilink element includes a Common information (Common Info) field in which the MAC address information of the first STA is located.

In one possible implementation, when the first field is used to indicate that the multilink element does not include MAC address information of the first STA, the first radio frame further includes a first information element including MAC address information of the first STA; wherein the first information element is different from the multilink element.

It should be noted that, the communication device 900 may also be used to execute the foregoing other embodiments and achieve the corresponding beneficial effects, and specific reference may be made to the description in the foregoing embodiments, which is not repeated herein.

Referring to fig. 10, a communication device 1000 is provided, where the communication device 1000 includes a transmitting unit 1001 and a receiving unit 1002.

In one implementation, the communication apparatus 1000 may be specifically a first STA or a second STA in the communication method (and any possible implementation thereof) referred to in fig. 6 a.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to perform the communication procedure related to the aforementioned first STA (or initiator), the transmission unit 1001 and the reception unit 1002 are specifically used to perform the following procedure.

The sending unit 1001 is configured to send a first radio frame, where the first radio frame includes a first multilink element corresponding to a first multilink device MLD where the first STA is located, where the first multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA;

the receiving unit 1002 is configured to receive a second radio frame, where the second radio frame is a response frame of the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the transmission process of WLAN communication applied to TDLS, the first radio frame sent by the sending unit 1001 carries a multi-link element for indicating the site information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, where the first multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein the receiving side (e.g., the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the multilink element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the multilink element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to perform the communication process related to the aforementioned second STA (or responder), the transmission unit 1001 and the reception unit 1002 are specifically used to perform the following process.

The receiving unit 1002 is configured to receive a first radio frame, where the first radio frame includes a first multilink element corresponding to a first multilink device MLD where a first STA is located, where the first multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA;

the transmitting unit 1001 is configured to transmit a second radio frame, where the second radio frame is a response frame of the first radio frame.

Based on the above technical solution, in the transmission process of WLAN communication applied to TDLS, the first radio frame received by the receiving unit 1002 carries a multi-link element for indicating the site information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, where the first multi-link element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein the receiving side (e.g., the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the multilink element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the multilink element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to perform the communication procedure related to the first STA (or the second STA, or the initiator, or the responder), the communication device 1000 may also perform possible implementations as follows.

In one possible implementation, the first multilink element includes a common information field in which the MAC address information of the first STA is located.

Optionally, the first value is different from the second value.

In one possible implementation, the first field is located in an appearance bitmap field in the first multilink element.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame further includes a first information element including address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, where the address information of the initiator is a MAC address of a first MLD where the first STA is located.

In one possible implementation, in the first radio frame, the address information of the responder is MAC address information of the second STA or MAC address information of a second MLD where the second STA is located.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame includes a second multilink element corresponding to a second MLD in which the second STA is located, where the second multilink element includes a MAC address of the second STA.

In one possible implementation, the second multilink element includes a common information field in which the MAC address information of the second STA is located.

In one possible implementation, the second multilink element includes a second field for indicating whether the second multilink element includes MAC address information of the second STA.

Optionally, the first value is different from the second value.

In one possible implementation, the second field is located in an appearance bitmap field in the multilink element.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame further includes a second information element including address information of the initiator and address information of the responder.

the MAC address of the second MLD where the second STA is located.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame includes a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame; the first STA transmitting the first radio frame includes: the first STA sending the first radio frame to a first access point AP associated with the first STA, the first radio frame further comprising an address one (address 1, a 1) field, an address two (address 2, a 2) field, and an address three (address 3, a 3) field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the first AP, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first STA, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the responder.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame; the first STA transmitting the first radio frame includes: the first STA sending the first radio frame to the second STA, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the responder, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame; the first STA receiving the second radio frame comprising: the first STA receives the second radio frame from a first AP with which the first STA is associated, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the first STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first AP, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the responder.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame includes a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame; the first STA receiving the second radio frame comprising: the first STA receives the second radio frame from the second STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the initiator, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame includes a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame; the second STA receiving the first wireless frame includes: the second STA receiving the first radio frame from a second AP with which the second STA is associated, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second AP, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the initiator.

In one possible implementation, the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame; the second STA receiving the first wireless frame includes: the second STA receiving the first radio frame from the first STA, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the initiator, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame; the second STA transmitting the second radio frame includes: the first STA sends the second wireless frame to a second AP associated with the second STA, wherein the second wireless frame comprises an A1 field, an A2 field and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second AP, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the initiator.

In one possible implementation, the second radio frame includes a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame; the second STA transmitting the second radio frame includes: the second STA sending the second radio frame to the first STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the initiator, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

In one possible implementation, the responder is the second STA or a second MLD where the second STA is located.

In one possible implementation, the initiator is the first STA or a first MLD where the first STA is located.

In another implementation manner, the communication apparatus 1000 may specifically be the first STA or the second STA in the communication method (and any possible implementation manner thereof) referred to in fig. 6 a.

The transmitting unit 1001 is configured to transmit a first radio frame, where the first radio frame includes a first information element and a first multilink element, and the first information element includes MAC address information of a first station STA;

Based on the above technical solution, in the transmission process of WLAN communication applied to TDLS, the first radio frame sent by the sending unit 1001 carries a multilink element for indicating the site information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and the first information element different from the first multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, the receiving side (for example, the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the first information element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the first information element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

The receiving unit 1002 is configured to receive a first radio frame, where the first radio frame includes a first information element and a first multilink element, and the first information element includes MAC address information of a first station STA;

Based on the above technical solution, in the transmission process of WLAN communication applied to TDLS, the first radio frame received by the receiving unit 1002 carries a multilink element for indicating the site information of the first MLD where the first STA is located, and the first information element different from the first multilink element includes the MAC address information of the first STA. Wherein, the receiving side (for example, the second STA) of the first radio frame may receive the MAC address information of the first STA based on the first information element. Thus, the receiver of the first radio frame can receive and obtain the MAC address information of the first STA in the position of the first information element in the first radio frame, so that the receiver of the first radio frame can effectively learn the MAC address information of the first STA.

In one possible implementation, the first information element is a link identification information element, where the link identification information element includes address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, where the address information of the initiator is MAC address information of the first STA (or expressed as that the MAC address information of the first STA is located in the link identification information element), and the address information of the responder is address information of a second STA or address information of an MLD where the second STA is located.

It should be noted that, the communication device 1000 may also be used to execute the foregoing other embodiments and achieve the corresponding beneficial effects, and specific reference may be made to the description in the foregoing embodiments, which is not repeated herein.

For convenience of explanation, referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1100 may be an AP (e.g., a sender or a receiver in the foregoing method embodiments) or an STA (e.g., a sender, a receiver, a first STA, a second STA, an initiator, or a responder in the foregoing method embodiments), or a chip thereof. Fig. 11 shows only the main components of a communication device 1100, which communication device 1100 comprises at least a transceiver 1102.

Alternatively, the transceiver 1102 may also be referred to as an input-output port, a communication interface, or the like.

Optionally, the communication device 1100 further comprises a processor 1101; in addition, the communication device 1100 may further include a memory 1103.

Optionally, the apparatus 1100 may further be augmented with a bus 1104, the bus 1104 being used to establish a connection of the transceiver 1102 and/or the memory 1103 with the processor 1101.

The processor 1101 is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the whole communication device, executing software programs, and processing data of the software programs. The memory 1103 is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The transceiver 1102 may include a control circuit and an antenna, the control circuit being used primarily for conversion of baseband signals to radio frequency signals and processing of radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. For example, the transceiver 1102 may be a touch screen, display screen, keyboard, etc. that is primarily used to receive data entered by a user and to output data to the user.

When the communication device 1100 is powered on, the processor 1101 may read the software program in the memory 1103, interpret and execute instructions of the software program, and process data of the software program. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor 1101 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted, and outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit, and the radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is transmitted to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives a radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1101, and the processor 1101 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

In the alternative, the memory 1103 may be located in the processor 1101.

In either of the designs described above, a communication interface for implementing the receive and transmit functions may be included in the processor 1101. The communication interface may be, for example, a transceiver circuit, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuitry, interface or interface circuitry for implementing the receive and transmit functions may be separate or may be integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing codes/data, or the transceiver circuit, interface or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or transferring signals.

In any of the designs described above, the processor 1101 may have instructions stored thereon, which may be a computer program that, when executed on the processor 1101, causes the communication device 1100 to perform the method described in any of the embodiments described above. The computer program may be solidified in the processor 1101, in which case the processor 1101 may be implemented by hardware.

In one implementation, the communications apparatus 1100 can include circuitry that can implement the functionality of transmitting or receiving or communicating in any of the foregoing embodiments. The processors and communication interfaces described herein may be implemented on integrated circuits (integrated circuit, ICs), analog ICs, wireless radio frequency integrated circuits (radio frequency integrated circuit, RFIC), mixed signal ICs, application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), printed circuit boards (printed circuit board, PCB), electronic devices, and the like. The processor and communication interface may also be fabricated using a variety of IC process technologies such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (complementary metal oxide semiconductor, CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (bipolar junction transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

The scope of the communication device described in the present application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited by fig. 11. The communication means may be a stand-alone device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be:

(1) A stand-alone integrated circuit IC, or chip, or a system-on-a-chip or subsystem;

(2) A set of one or more ICs, optionally including storage means for storing data, a computer program;

(3) An ASIC, such as a Modem (Modem);

(4) Modules that may be embedded within other devices;

(5) Receivers, terminals, smart terminals, cellular telephones, wireless devices, handsets, mobile units, vehicle devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc.;

(6) Others, and so on.

As one possible product form, the AP and STA described in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a general-purpose processor.

It should be understood that the communication device in the various product forms has any function of the AP or STA in any of the foregoing embodiments, and will not be described herein.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium having computer program code stored therein, which when executed by the above-mentioned processor, causes the electronic device to perform the method of any of the previous embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of the preceding embodiments.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication device, which can exist in the form of a chip product, and the structure of the device comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used for communicating with other devices through a receiving circuit, so that the device executes the method in any of the previous embodiments.

The embodiments of the present application also provide a wireless communication system including at least two STAs (and possibly APs) that can perform the method in any of the foregoing embodiments.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the disclosure herein may be embodied in hardware, or may be embodied in software instructions executed by a processor. The software instructions may be comprised of corresponding software modules that may be stored in random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), flash memory, erasable programmable read-only memory (Erasable Programmable ROM, EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that in one or more of the examples described above, the functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, these functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer-readable storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

The foregoing embodiments have been provided for the purpose of illustrating the technical solution and advantageous effects of the present application in further detail, and it should be understood that the foregoing embodiments are merely illustrative of the present application and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements, etc. made on the basis of the technical solution of the present application should be included in the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A radio frame transmission method, comprising:

Generating a first radio frame, wherein the first radio frame comprises a multi-link element, the multi-link element comprises a first field, and the first field is used for indicating whether the multi-link element comprises Medium Access Control (MAC) address information of a first Station (STA);

and transmitting the first wireless frame.

2. A radio frame receiving method, comprising:

receiving a first radio frame, wherein the first radio frame comprises a multi-link element, the multi-link element comprises a first field, and the first field is used for indicating whether the multi-link element comprises MAC address information of a first station STA;

determining whether MAC address information of the first STA is received in the multilink element based on the first field.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first field is located in an occurrence bitmap field in the multilink element.

4. A method according to any one of claim 1 to 3, wherein,

and when the value of the first field is a first value, the first field is used for indicating that the multilink element comprises the MAC address information of the first STA.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the multilink element comprises a common information field in which the MAC address information of the first STA is located.

6. The method according to any one of claim 1 to 5, wherein,

when the value of the first field is a second value, the first field is used for indicating that the multilink element does not include the MAC address information of the first STA; the MAC address information of the first STA is located in other locations of the first radio frame than the multilink element.

7. A method of communication, comprising:

transmitting a first wireless frame, wherein the first wireless frame comprises a first multi-link element corresponding to a first multi-link device (MLD) where a first Station (STA) is located, and the first multi-link element comprises Medium Access Control (MAC) address information of the first STA;

the first STA receives a second radio frame, wherein the second radio frame is a response frame of the first radio frame.

8. A method of communication, comprising:

a second Station (STA) receives a first wireless frame, wherein the first wireless frame comprises a first multi-link element corresponding to a first multi-link device (MLD) where a first STA is located, and the first multi-link element comprises Medium Access Control (MAC) address information of the first STA;

and the second STA transmits a second wireless frame, wherein the second wireless frame is a response frame of the first wireless frame.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the first multilink element comprises a common information field in which the MAC address information of the first STA is located.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the first multilink element comprises a first field for indicating whether the first multilink element includes MAC address information of the first STA.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first field is located in an occurrence bitmap field in the first multilink element.

12. The method of any of claims 7 to 11, wherein the first radio frame further comprises a first information element, the first information element comprising address information of an initiator and address information of a responder, the address information of the initiator being a MAC address of a first MLD in which the first STA is located.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe is performed,

in the first radio frame, the address information of the responder is MAC address information of a second STA or MAC address information of a second MLD where the second STA is located.

14. The method of any of claims 7 to 13, wherein the second radio frame includes a second multilink element corresponding to a second MLD in which a second STA is located, wherein the second multilink element includes a MAC address of the second STA.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the second multilink element comprises a common information field in which the MAC address information of the second STA is located.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the second multilink element comprises a second field for indicating whether the second multilink element comprises MAC address information of the second STA.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the second field is located in an occurrence bitmap field in the second multilink element.

18. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 17, wherein,

the second radio frame further includes a second information element including address information of the initiator and address information of the responder.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of providing the first information comprises,

In the second information element, the address information of the initiator is any one of the following:

a MAC address of the first STA; or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

and the MAC address of a third STA, wherein the third STA and the first STA are both positioned in a first MLD, and the BSSID of the BSS where the second STA is positioned is the same as the BSSID of the BSS where the third STA is positioned.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein,

in the second information element, address information of the responder is any one of the following:

the MAC address of the second MLD where the second STA is located.

21. The method according to any one of claims 7,9 to 20, wherein the first radio frame comprises a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame;

the transmitting the first radio frame includes:

transmitting the first radio frame to a first Access Point (AP) associated with the first STA, wherein the first radio frame further comprises an address one A1 field, an address two A2 field and an address three A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the first AP, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first STA, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the responder.

22. The method according to any one of claims 7,9 to 20, wherein the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame;

the transmitting the first radio frame includes:

transmitting the first radio frame to the second STA, the first radio frame further including an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is address information of a responder, the value of the A2 field is address information of the first STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

23. The method according to any one of claims 7,9 to 22, wherein the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame;

the receiving the second radio frame includes:

receiving the second radio frame from a first AP associated with the first STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the first STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the first AP, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the responder.

24. The method of any of claims 7,9 to 22, wherein the second radio frame comprises a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame;

The receiving the second radio frame includes:

receiving the second radio frame from the second STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the initiator, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

25. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 23, wherein the first radio frame comprises a TDLS discovery request frame, a TDLS setup request frame, or a TDLS setup confirm frame;

the receiving the first radio frame includes:

receiving the first radio frame from a second AP associated with the second STA, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second AP, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the initiator.

26. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 23, wherein the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame;

the receiving the first radio frame includes:

receiving the first radio frame from the first STA, the first radio frame further comprising an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second STA, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the initiator, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

27. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 23, wherein the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame;

the transmitting the second radio frame includes:

transmitting the second radio frame to a second AP associated with the second STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the second AP, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the address information of the initiator.

28. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 23, wherein the second radio frame comprises a TDLS discovery response frame, a response frame of a TDLS setup confirm frame, or a response frame of a TDLS data frame;

the transmitting the second radio frame includes:

transmitting the second radio frame to the first STA, wherein the second radio frame includes an A1 field, an A2 field, and an A3 field; the value of the A1 field is the address information of the initiator, the value of the A2 field is the address information of the second STA, and the value of the A3 field is the MAC address information of the BSSID or the AP MLD.

29. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein,

The responder is the second STA or a second MLD where the second STA is located.

30. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 28, wherein,

the initiator is the first STA or a first MLD where the first STA is located.

31. A radio frame transmission device, characterized in that the device comprises a receiving unit and a transmitting unit, wherein the device is adapted to perform the method of any of claims 1, 3 to 6.

32. A radio frame receiving apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a receiving unit and a transmitting unit, wherein the apparatus is adapted to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 6.

33. A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises a receiving unit and a transmitting unit, wherein the device is adapted to perform the method of any of claims 7, 9 to 30.

34. A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises a receiving unit and a transmitting unit, wherein the device is adapted to perform the method of any of claims 8 to 30.

35. A communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory;

the memory is used for storing programs or instructions;

The at least one processor is configured to execute the program or instructions to cause the apparatus to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 30.

36. A computer program product comprising program instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 30.

37. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium stores therein program instructions, which when run, cause the method of any of claims 1 to 30 to be performed.